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This story is from December 21, 2017

Wary of China, SSB to raise strength along Bhutan border

Wary of China, SSB to raise strength along Bhutan border
NEW DELHI: In order to avoid incidents like Doklam which got Indian and Chinese forces in an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation earlier this year, the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), which guards the borders with Bhutan and Nepal, is increasing its strength in the region near the tri-junction in Sikkim.
“Doklam is on India-China border, which is not our mandate but we are more alert in the area next to it and there is going to be slightly increased strength on the border just below the tri-junction (India-Bhutan-Tibet), which is on the southern side.
The battalion headquarters is coming up in Yuksom in Sikkim while more BoPs (border out posts) will be established in the area,” SSB Director General Rajni Kant Mishra told reporters when asked bout the preparations in view of the 73 day-long stand-off.
“We have the sanctions to establish a total of 734 BoPs along both Nepal and Bhutan borders and we have 635 now on the ground,” the DG said on the occasion of the 54th Raising Day of the force.
He said the central paramilitary force keeps itself informed about the developments related to trans-border crimes, issues affecting the local border population and other activities.
Asked about the influence of China in Nepal and some of its study centres functioning in the Himalayan country, the DG said the force is only concerned about those developments in the neighbourhood which have ramifications on the 1,751-km long India-Nepal border.
“The impact of Chinese interference on border crime (along India-Nepal border) has not been noticed in the past,” he said.
The SSB chief said infiltration of terrorists and others did happen in the past when they used this border (India-Nepal) to enter India.

“Any development that is going to affect our border population and any impact on trans-border crime is what we keep a watch on. It is too early to say anything about the impact on border crimes with the changing political situation in Nepal,” he said.
SSB is in the process of installing laser fences at certain points along Nepal and Bhutan borders to prevent infiltration of terrorists and smuggling.
Inspector General (Operations) of SSB A K Singh said laser fences will be deployed in areas that are uninhabited due to difficult terrain and are prone to terror and smuggling activities.
A K Singh said that “the fake Indian currency notes recovered by them post demonetisation are of low quality”.
During 2017, SSB has made seizures worth more than Rs 600 crore. SSB is mandated to secure 699 km Indo-Bhutan border and 1758 km long Indo-Nepal border.
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