Notes

Border Management

Properties1
tagssecurity, borders

5 min read

  • border: artificial or natural line that separates geographical areas
    • political boundaries
    • outlines area that particular body controls
    • sovereignty of region extends to region within its borders

Classification

  • open
  • controlled
  • fortified

also as

  • hard
  • soft

Evolution of India’s Borders and need for border mgmt

  • pre 1947, indian subcontinent politically whole
  • hastily imposed partition divided integrated landmass into new political entities
  • some of these borders were unambiguous, others faced issue of demarcation & delimitation
  • these artificial boundaries cut across regions housed by inhabitants of common ethnicity
  • hence india cannot simply apply a security template to manage borders
  • need for border mgmt

Border Mgmt

  • development of border areas to transform them into zones promoting cultural & economic cooperation, in addition to border security
  • border security == safeguarding country’s socio political economic interests from ext. threats

Types of borders in india

  • Land
  • coastal

Administrative setup: MHA has dedicated border mgmt division

Land Border Mgmt in india

  • land border shared w 7 nation
    • Pak
    • Bgldsh
    • China
    • Nepal
    • Bhutan
    • Myanmar
    • Afghan (through POK: Wakhan corridor)
  • 2 types of land boundaries
    • Intl. borders
    • LOC/LAC

LOC w/ Pakistan

  • w/ Pak Radcliffe line was unambiguous
  • extended upwards from Punjab after Maharaja of Kashmir acceded to India after Pak invasion
  • led to signing of ceasefire agreement in Karachi in 1949 -> “ceasefire line”
    • multiple realignments, esp after 1971 war
    • now LOC

LAC & McMahon Line w/ China

  • w/ China, India shares 3 land fronts - west, mid, east
  • post 1962 war -> western front = LAC in Ladakh
  • middle front is least contested
  • McMahon line on eastern front not recognized by CN
  • 2 types of land boundaries present 2 different types of threats
    • across intl borders, threats unconventional
      • trafficking
      • smuggling
    • LOC/LAC conventional threats
      • territorial expansion

India’s approach to land border mgmt

  • security & developmental aspects
  • MHA has designated specific border guarding force for each land border
    • Pak, Bgldsh: BSF
    • China: ITBP
    • Nepal, Bhutan: SSB
    • Myanmar: Assam Rifles
  • Border outpost
    • forces deploy border outposts for area dominance
    • area dominance achieved through constant patrolling
    • along certain borders (esp. Bgldsh) floating border outposts
    • defensive nature
  • Integrated Checkposts
    • authorized checkpoints to control mvmt of G&S & ppl
    • providing transit facilities
      • Land Custom Stations
      • Immigration Checkposts

Border Infra Mgmt Scheme (BIM)

  • central sector scheme
  • enhance border security thru development of border infra
    • fence
    • road
    • floodlights
  • seeks to deploy technological soln where phy fencing not possible

Border Fencing

  • patrolling along border fences at most ports of Pak/Bgldsh borders
  • limited along Myanmar
  • floodled, electrified

Comprehensive Integrated Border Mgmt Systems (CIBMS)

  • help india overcome challenges posted by riverine terrains, swapms, marshes, other inhospitable areas that hinder phy mvmt
  • 1855km stretch w/ pak, bgldsh
  • robust technological soln to address gaps in border sec by integrating 3 things
    • Human resource
    • weapory
    • hi tech surveillance systems: thermal imaged, IR/Laser intruder alarms, areal surveillance mech

Border Area Development Plan

  • launched 1986-87
  • for western front initially (Raj, Guj, Pb)
  • facilitating infra so that BSF can be easily deployed
  • later, mandate expanded to construction of schools, hospital, civic service
  • implemented in decentralized manner w/ PRI
  • non lapsable funding

Challenges w/ border mgmt

  • artificial boundaries
    • susceptibility of ppl to be swayed by agents adversarial to country’s interest
  • undefined border & multiple border disputes (LAC, LOC, McMahon)
  • multiplicity of forces
    • diff SoP
    • coordination problems
  • Infra challenges
    • BRO overstretched beyond capacity
    • lack of privatization
    • border asymmetry in comparison w/ China
  • porosity of borders
    • border regions are a hot belt for insurgency & trafficking
  • vicinity to disturbed regions
    • eg. proximity to Death Triangle and Death Crescent
      • make india a market & route for drug trafficking
  • external state actors
    • hostile eas, collusion w/ non state actors have been overty + covertly supporting instability on both east/west fronts

India’s Coastal Border Mgmt

  • 7500km coastline
  • 13 major ports
  • 242 minor ports
  • 1400km coastal island groups
  • 3300 coastal villages
  • 135 establishments related to atomic energy, defence, petroleum
  • threats from security perspective
    • piracy
    • capturing of high value targets
    • infiltration
    • attacks on off shore installations
    • port security
  • since 26/11, coastal security high priority

Steps by india

  • 3 tier security architecture
    • Indian Navy (overarching body)
    • Indian Coast Guard (for maritime, inland surveillance)
    • Coastal Police
  • Coastal Security Scheme
    • creation of coastal police stn to compound patrolling capability of ICG
    • installation of surveillance infra eg. Automated Identification sys, radar
  • Convergence of 3 forces
    • joint operation centres
    • joint exercises
      • Op Sagar Kavach: biannual exercise of Navy, ICG, Coastal Police
    • Operation Sajag: Exercise of ICG
      • involves stakeholders from Navy, coastal police, port authorities, custom bodies
    • exercises for involvement of fishermen community
      • ensure fishermen become eyes & ears of coastal security apparatus: IN, ICG do awareness programmes
        • issuing ID cards to fishermen w/ centralized DB
        • registering fishing boats
        • equipping them w/ Instruments for identification & dragging
  • training: National Academy of Coastal Policing

Challenges w/ Indian Coastal Border Mgmt

  • Lack of Coherence
    • lack of consensus, priorities even on understanding of coastal security
    • argued that Indian Navy tends to view major initiatives eg. Joint Exercises, establishment of N3CIN (Nat. Command & Control Communications Intelligence Network), Coastal Radar Chains as building blocks of security
    • but ICG argues that problems are structural and cannot be addressed through tech alone
  • Apathy of State Govt
    • except TN, state administrations have not adequately responded to their coastal security needs
    • eg. Andhra -> Since creation of 21 coastal police stations in 2009, only 6 have concrete buildings
    • the PAC of Maha pointed out 33% of coastal police stn were still wIP
  • Lack of apex national authority
    • over a dozen maritime agencies w/o full time coastal security manager
    • coastal security bill proposed National Maritime Authority not passed since 2013
    • National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Mgmt (NCSCMS) is ad-hoc arrangement
  • Port Security
    • across india’s maritime security architecture, port security remains most neglected area
    • over 190 minor ports have minimal security cover and 75 have no security cover at all
    • complete absence of comprehensive commercial maritime security policy
    • absence of legal obligations on port operators to provide security at port terminals
  • proposal for creating coastal border police force has also seen govt. dragging its feet on it

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