BSF plans hotline to Pakistan Rangers

Shillong, June 22 (IANS) The Border Security Force (BSF) is planning to commission a hotline with its Pakistan Rangers counterpart for urgent discussion of problems on the border without having to go via the diplomatic channels in New Delhi, its chief said Friday.

"We have this communication system established in the east but not in the west (Pakistan border). We want to have it in there too," BSF Director General U.K. Bansal told journalists here.

Bansal, who is scheduled to meet his Pakistani counterpart on July 1 at New Delhi, said the BSF will moot the idea of setting up a hotline where field commanders on both sides of the border initiate dialogue directly instead of waiting for flag meetings in case of any untoward incident.

"The objective is mainly to prevent escalation when such incidents occur. There should be a channel of communication in case of any incident," he said.

"We should be able to talk and this is a routine confidence building measures across the border and between the two border guarding forces," added Bansal.

India and Pakistan share two types of border - the international border in parts of Jammu and Kashmir, extending all the way to Gujarat, and the Line of Control in rest of Jammu and Kashmir.

Bansal, who visited the India-Bangladesh border in Meghalaya Friday and reviewed the security preparedness of the BSF troopers, revealed that the BSF is in the process of procuring more surveillance equipments following approval from the home ministry.

"We will be inducting new surveillance and communication equipment on the international border to check early intrusion along the border," the BSF chief said.

He added that force multipliers like hand-held thermal-imagers, battlefield surveillance radar and night vision devices have been installed on the border to ensure effective night domination.