NEW DELHI: Terming illegal immigration as the root cause of demographic changes in border districts, Union home minister Amit Shah Thursday reiterated Modi govt’s resolve to tackle and address such unnatural demographic shifts with a ruthless approach, while declaring that a robust mechanism will be put in place to make the country infiltration-free.Addressing the land border districts’ SPs conference here, a first-of-its-kind initiative, Shah said a ‘Demography Mission’ has already been tasked to study demographic changes, identify the abnormal factors behind them and recommend measures to prevent these changes in future. “A secure border, a prosperous border region and a vigilant society together are the three key elements that make the borders secure,” he stated.Shah underlined that Modi govt had successfully eliminated the three key security problems plaguing the country for almost four decades – terrorism in J&K, insurgency in the North-East, and Left-wing extremism – and was now focused on ending the narcotics problem, “which has inflicted serious damage on the country”, within next three years.The border SPs conference, attended by DGPs of border states, collectors or/and SPs of 119 border districts, director of Intelligence Bureau and heads of border guarding forces, discussed all issues regarding border security, including infiltration, proxy war, smart border solutions, illegal immigration and its impact on demography of border districts, drone and narcotics threat, and border development initiatives with community engagement in border villages. Shah said Thursday’s deliberations on issues relating to border security will be given an institutional shape and an integrated, foolproof and quadrangular border security policy drawn up, with Centre, states, district administrations and border communities as joint stakeholders. He added that a similar initiative will be undertaken for coastal border security.
