World | India
Border fence near Pakistan moved to free farmlands
India has started shifting a border fence closer to Pakistan, ostensibly to free farmlands in the no-man's land between the two rivals, but experts say it will position India better to halt militant infiltration.
- Reuters
- Published: 20:43 June 24, 2008
New Delhi: India has started shifting a border fence closer to Pakistan, ostensibly to free farmlands in the no-man's land between the two rivals, but experts say it will position India better to halt militant infiltration.
India began setting up a long fence along the border with Pakistan in the mid-90s to stop militant groups and illegal immigrants from sneaking into Indian territory.
Pakistan initially objected to the fence, but India hurriedly set it up at least 2-4 km away from the border line in some places, saying they were coming under heavy firing from across the border.
As a result, vast areas of fertile land in the northern states of Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab, were left outside the fence, leading to protests from Indian farmers.
"When the fence was being erected, there was lot of firing from the other side, so we put the fence wherever we could," Ashish Kumar Mitra, chief of the Border Security Force (BSF), the main border security agency, said.
"Once we complete moving the fence, farmers should not face any problems in tilling their land," Mitra said. "We have just started work."
Farmlands across 62 km will be initially freed for cultivation of rice and wheat in the northern states of Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab, roughly in a year's time, officials said.
More access
"With the bushes out of the way, we will have more access near the border now," a senior BSF commander said.
Experts say the move to shift the fence should not be seen as a provocative act, if India sticks to the rules.
"As long as they put it up on Indian soil and not beyond the zero line, they have a right to do it," said Brahma Chellaney of the Centre for Policy Research, a New Delhi-based think-tank.
Farmers in India, the fourth-biggest rice producer, were happy at the development.
"A lot of fertile land will now be available for cultivation and the farmers will be extremely happy at the development," Umendra Dutt, head of the Farm inheritance Mission, an agricultural research body, in Punjab.
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