New Delhi: In the wake of terror attacks in Uri and Pathankot, a parliamentary panel on Thursday reviewed with the top brass of the Home Ministry issues related to the security along the international borders and steps taken to enhance surveillance to check such incidents in future.
Department Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs, headed by Congress leader P Chidambaram, reviewed various aspects of border security along the Indo- Pakistan and Indo-Bangladesh borders and the steps taken to check repeated incidents of cross-border terrorism.
Home Ministry officials, led by Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi, briefed the MPs about the initiatives taken for round-the-clock surveillance and close coordination between the border guarding forces and armed forces, sources privy to the discussions said. The attacks on the military station in Uri and the Pathankot airbase were also raised by the parliamentarians who asked how the terrorists could breach the border despite several layers of security.
The Home Ministry officials said that the Line of Control near Uri is being guarded by the army and even though the Pathankot attackers breached the border guarded by the BSF, the issues related to the Indian Air Force base are being handled by the Ministry of Defence, the sources said. The issue of failure of intelligence agencies, which come under the Home Ministry, will come up for discussions in the next meeting of the Parliamentary Committee likely to be held on October 14.
Illegal infiltration through the Indo-Bangla border despite having barbed fencing, progress of setting up of NATGRID, anti-terror organisation NCTC have also come up for discussions during the two-hour-long meeting, sources said.