Amidst all talks of getting security tightened all along the Indo-Pak border with latest technology to seal infiltration of militants from Pakistan side, the discovery of a tunnel dug deep several meters and coming right inside the Indian territory in R S Pura of Jammu sector has caught security agencies by surprise. It’s a coincidence that a tractor got stuck in a pit and while pulling out security agencies came across the tunnel. The issue of ensuring zero infiltration along the Indo-Pak border on both frontier states of Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab has always been a top priority for the Union Government and the consensus to have a modern border guarding mechanism along the western frontier was evolved after several meetings attended by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, NSA Ajit Doval and many top army and police officials. Interestingly, in November 2014, the Home Minister had visited one of the border outposts in Gaza and was “greatly impressed” by the technology used in the highly sophisticated border security system of Israel which includes high-quality long-range day cameras along with night observation systems employing third generation thermal imagers. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had reportedly told Singh that Israel was “ready and willing” to share with India its technology for border protection. Israel is hailed to have the best border protection system in the world, and depends more on technology than humans to protect its border. The technology includes high-quality long-range day cameras along with night observation systems, third generation thermal imagers, long-range detection radars, electronic touch and motion sensors on the fence as well as underground sensors to detect any tunnelling attempts. The Israeli border fencing along West Bank, Gaza and Egypt also consists of latticed steel, topped and edged with razor wire, extending at least two metres below ground and in some sections reaching seven metres above the ground. Ditches and observation posts with cameras and antennae will line the route. Recently, Hungary and Bulgaria have turned to Israel for advice on building a fence modelled on the one set up on the southern Israeli border with Egypt to stop influx of refugees. The US, India and other countries have sent delegations to Israel in the past to examine the innovations involved in the barrier. If such a strong anti-infiltration mechanism is at place no-doubt India would be able to check the menace emanating from Pakistan.
