Amit Shah reviews India-Nepal border security in Seemanchal, focus on surveillance and development

Patna: Union home minister Amit Shah reached Kishanganj district on Wednesday on a three-day visit to the Seemanchal region, and reviewed security and management in around 700-km-long India-Nepal border area.

Shah chaired a meeting with Land Ports Authority of India, where the Union home secretary was also present. Raxaul on India-Nepal border has one of the 15 land ports in the country.




Earlier, deputy CM Samrat Choudhary, minister Leshi Singh and BJP state chief Sanjay Saraogi welcomed Shah at Purnia airport, from where he went to Kishanganj by a helicopter. He held a meeting with the district officials and security personnel at the collectorate in the evening.

Shah, in the high-level review meeting, sought feedback on several strategic issues from the district administration and senior officers of central security agencies Sashastra Seema Bal and Border Security Force. Minister of state for home Nityanand Rai and the deputy CM were also present at the meeting.

Sources said the discussions centred on enhancing monitoring systems along the international border and addressing region-specific security challenges.

Emphasis was laid on improving intelligence sharing, use of technology-driven surveillance and tighter coordination between central forces and the state administration, they added.

Later in the evening, Shah interacted with the BJP leaders and discussed organisational strategy and regional electoral considerations, particularly in view of the upcoming assembly elections in neighbouring West Bengal.

On Thursday, Shah will visit Araria district, where he will inaugurate the Letti border outpost campus on the Nepal border and participate in a programme related to border security. Later, a meeting is scheduled with the chief secretary, DGP and district magistrates of the seven border districts. The home minister will discuss the situation in the border areas and may announce funds under the central govt’s Vibrant Villages Programme.

He will also assess the progress of the Vibrant Villages Programme, aimed at developing roads and infrastructure in border villages, improve education and health facilities, promote tourism, and raise local employment and living standards.

Seemanchal is very important strategically from the country’s security point of view, especially with the nearby ‘Chicken’s Neck’ region. Meanwhile, there are reports of new settlements and religious sites springing up in Parsa and Bara areas of Nepal. Chinese activity was recently reported in Rautahat in Nepal, which is adjacent to Sitamarhi.

JD(U) national spokesman Rajeev Ranjan Prasad said after eliminating left-wing extremism, the govt has set a target to identify illegal infiltrators in the country.