Expressing concern over the porous Indo-Bangladesh border in Mankachar sector of Assam, Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said that his government will take action on a war footing to seal the international border.Sonowal said this on Saturday while visiting the Mankachar sector of the Indo-Bangladesh border along with a delegation of the All Assam Students' Union (AASU), several MLAs of the ruling alliance government in the state and top bureaucrats including the Director General of Assam Police.The Chief Minister who embarked on the two-day visit since Friday visited riverine border areas on Saturday and said that lots needed to be done to seal the porous border areas in synchronisation with the expectations of the people of Assam.
"The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government in the state attaches top priority to sealing the Indo-Bangladesh border in order to make Assam a state free from illegal foreigners," said Sonowal after visiting the border and added that sealing of the Indo-Bangladesh border has been a long pending demand of the people."The government shall take exhaustive and all inclusive measures to seal the porous riverine border areas on a war-footing. We also seek cooperation from all sections of the people to fortify our international borders and create a protective shield against all cross border movements including smuggling," Sonowal said. The Chief Minister also travelled around for three hours on the Brahmaputra river along the riverine borders and had his boat anchored on several sandbars to interact with the people and get a first hand account and view of the status of the international border and of the people living near it.