NEW DELHI – The Indian government is planning to raise 15 new battalions inthe country’s two important border guarding forces – the BSF and the ITBP –to fortify defence along the strategic frontiers with Pakistan, Bangladeshand China, PTI has reported.
A senior official in the Union Home Ministry told PTI that it is “activelyconsidering” raising six fresh battalions in the Border Security Force(BSF) and nine in the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) force.
Each battalion of these forces comprises about 1,000 operational jawans andofficers.
Sources in the BSF said the force has projected enhancing manpower bysanctioning of new units so that they can be deployed in the Assam and WestBengal flanks of the Indo-Bangladesh border even as a similar addition innumbers is required to effectively guard the Indo-Pak International Border(IB), especially in Punjab and Jammu regions, in the near future.
“The exact locations for the new battalions could be gauged as and whenthey are raised but a few areas along Bangladesh and Pakistan will remain apriority owing to their vulnerability profile such as infiltration, drugssmuggling, human trafficking and illegal migration,” a senior BSF officersaid.
Similarly, the ITBP has been trying to reduce the inter-BoP (border outpost) distance at the 3,488-km long icy frontier that it is tasked withguarding.
“The original projection was to have 12 fresh battalions for the ITBP butthe force requires nine such units in the near future,” a senior ITBPofficer said.
The frequent instances of transgressions and confrontations with theChinese army at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) is being seen as the majorreason for the ITBP to enhance its numbers.
The mountain-trained force has recently got sanctions to set up at least 47new BoPs along the border for effective control of the Himalayan borderarea.
The home ministry official said the new battalions would also help the twoborder guarding forces better rotate troops from forward locations to unitsin the mainland.
While most of the BoPs of the ITBP are in highly arduous terrain and it isdifficult and time-taking to reach them, many of the BSF locations at thetwo borders are also in high-altitude and harsh climate regions.
While the BSF is the country’s largest border guarding force with astrength of about 2.5 lakh, the ITBP is about 90,000-personnel strong.
The home ministry has three such forces under its command, the third beingthe Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) that is tasked with guarding Indian borderswith Nepal and Bhutan.