Minister of State for External Affairs V.K. Singh on Monday underlined the need for user-oriented technological solutions for securing the countrys borders."We have a 15,000-km land border and a 7,500-km coastal border line," he said while inaugurating a conference on 'Smart Border Management 2018' organised by industry body Ficci in collaboration with the India Foundation think tank here."We have deserts, riverine areas, hills and mountains and thick forests along our borders," he said. "In coastal areas also there are variations."Singh said that close interface between the manufacturers of border surveillance systems and the users was critical to enable border security forces to identify, delay and disrupt infiltration.He said that in view of the uniqueness of India's borders in terms of the variety of terrain and climatic differences, it is imperative to have in place systems that required minimal maintenance and are easy to handle."In addition, technology should have reliable and robust alarm systems to reduce the response time for counter-measures," he emphasised.
A Ficci release stated that Monday's conference coincided with the launch of two pilot projects in Jammu by Home Minister Rajnath Singh under the Comprehensive Integrated Border Management Solution (CIBMS).The two stretches along the International Border in Jammu will have a first-of-a-kind, high-tech surveillance system that will create an invisible electronic barrier on land, water and even in air and underground, helping the Border Security Force.After inaugurating the conference, V.K. Singh released a report on "Smart Border Management" brought out by Ficci and consulting firm BDO India.Noting that security organisations collect a vast amount of data, the report said that this data, along with analytics, can be used to make more insightful, forward-looking decisions about readiness, logistics, manpower, intelligence and a host of other critical security concerns along the border.