Tag: Border

Amit Shah to visit Arunachal village along China border on April 10-11

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Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah will visit Arunachal Pradesh on April 10 and 11 where he will launch the ‘Vibrant Villages Programme’ in Kibithoo, a village along the India-China border.
Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the government of India has approved the ‘Vibrant Villages Programme’ (VVP) with central components of Rs 4,800 crore, including Rs 2,500 crore exclusively for road connectivity for the financial years 2022-23 to 2025-26, a home ministry statement said on Saturday.
The VVP is a centrally sponsored scheme under which 2,967 villages in 46 blocks of 19 districts abutting the northern border in the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh and Union Territory of Ladakh have been identified for comprehensive development.

In the first phase, 662 villages, including 455 in Andhra Pradesh, have been identified for priority coverage.
The VVP will help in improving the quality of life of people living in identified border villages and encourage people to stay at their native locations, thereby reversing the outmigration from these villages and adding to the security of the border, the statement said.
The district administration, with the help of appropriate mechanisms at block and panchayat levels, will prepare action plans for the identified villages to ensure 100 per cent saturation of central and state schemes. The focus areas of interventions identified for the development of villages include road connectivity, drinking water, electricity including solar and wind energy, mobile and internet connectivity, tourist centres, multi-purpose centres and healthcare infrastructure and wellness centres.
Shah, in his first visit to Arunachal Pradesh as home minister, will on April 10 inaugurate nine micro hydel projects of the state government constructed under the “Golden Jubilee Border Illumination Programme” in Kibithoo. These electricity projects will empower people living in border villages, the statement said.
He will also inaugurate Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) projects to augment infrastructure at Likabali (Arunachal Pradesh), Chapra (Bihar), Nooranad (Kerala) and Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), it said.

The home minister will also interact with ITBP personnel at Kibithoo in the Anjaw district of Arunachal Pradesh.
An exhibition of products made by members of women’s self-help groups of border districts will also be held. Shah will visit the exhibition stalls, the statement said.
On April 11, he will visit Namti field and pay homage at the Walong war memorial, it said.
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#Amit #Shah #visit #Arunachal #village #China #border #April
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 8, 2023
India pursuing Bangladesh to reopen ‘Border Haats’ in Tripura

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Agartala: The Indian government has raised the issue of reopening the two ‘Border Haats’ (markets) in Tripura to promote local business and livelihood of the people living on either side of the frontiers with its Bangladesh counterpart.
Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Anupriya Patel, said in a letter to former Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb that the functioning of the Border Haats at Kamlasagar in Sepahijala district and Srinagar in South Tripura district were suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We are continuously raising the matter of reopening of Border Haats at Kamlasagar and Srinagar in the bilateral meetings with Bangladesh. We are hopeful of an early resolution of this matter,” Patel said in her letter to Deb, currently a BJP Rajya Sabha member.

Deb, who resigned from the Chief Minister’s post in May last year, had urrged the Centre during a Special Mention in the Rajya Sabha in December 2022 to reopen the Border Haats along Tripura’s border with Bangladesh.
The four Border Haats, two each in Tripura and Meghalaya, have remained closed since March 2020 after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and the consequent lockdowns, causing immense loss to the people living in the bordering villages.
The two Border Haats in Meghalaya — at Balat (East Khasi Hills district) and Kalaichar (South West Garo Hills district) — were reopened last year and both are functional once in a week now.
Officials of the Tripura Industries and Commerce Department said that the officials in Sepahijala and South Tripura district administrations had on a number of occasions approached their Bangladesh counterparts to reopen the Border Haats as the Covid-19 induced situation has almost been tamed now.
“Bangladesh officials said that the concerned ministries in Dhaka are yet to allow reopening of the markets,” an official of the department told IANS.

Jaipur-based think-tank CUTS International, which has done several studies on border trade, had also recommended to the Indian government to resume these border markets maintaining necessary precautions against Covid-19, as these markets boost the economy, cement ties between the people of the two countries and also check illegal trade.
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#India #pursuing #Bangladesh #reopen #Border #Haats #Tripura
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 7, 2023
Assembly polls: Increased vigil at inter-state border points in coastal Karnataka

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Mangaluru: The Dakshina Kannada (DK) district administration has heightened vigil at the border points with Kerala to prevent flow of money and freebies to Karnataka ahead of the assembly elections next month.
Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner M R Ravi Kumar on Sunday said 10 check posts have been set up at the inter-state border points with Kerala. In all, 27 check points have been set up in Dakshina Kannada including inter-district and local check posts.
He said all measures are being taken to ensure effective implementation of the Model Code of Conduct with the help of police and other departments.

A police team seized unaccounted cash from a Kerala-based man who was carrying the money without proper documents when his vehicle was intercepted at one such check post.
The Election Commission has appointed DK Zilla Panchayat CEO Kumar as the district nodal officer to ensure the code of conduct is being followed. Nodal officers have also been posted for each of the eight assembly constituencies in the coastal district.
The DC directed the owners of malls, halls, auditoriums and theatres not to allow conduct of programmes of political parties without prior permission from the district election office.
City Police Commissioner Kuldeep Kumar R Jain also warned that strict legal action will be taken in cases of violations of the Model Code of Conduct.
Police confiscated Rs 7.95 lakh cash from one Suresh, a resident of neighbouring Kasaragod district in Kerala. The money was found when the police were checking vehicles at Talapady border point between Kerala and Karnataka on Saturday.

The seized cash and the impounded car were handed over to the Election Commission officer for investigation.
A preliminary probe revealed that Suresh, who works as a fabricator, brought the cash to buy materials from Mangaluru. A case will be registered if the seized cash is found to have any link with the elections, police said.
In another incident, Bantwal rural police seized a lorry laden with rice without proper documents from Farangipet in the district on Friday night.
The police confiscated 300 bags of rice, each weighing 50 kg, totalling 15,000 kg and worth Rs 6 lakh from the accused. In addition, the lorry was also impounded, police further said
Karnataka goes to the polls on May 10 and counting will take place on May 13.
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#Assembly #polls #Increased #vigil #interstate #border #points #coastal #Karnataka
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 2, 2023
US-Canada border deaths: Four of the deceased from Gujarat

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Mehsana: A family in Mehsana district in Gujarat believes the Indians who were among the eight who died while trying to cross into the United States of America from Canada recently are their kin.
Jasubhai Chaudhary, a resident of Manekpur village in Vijapur taluka here, on Sunday said his brother, sister-in-law and their two children had left for Canada two months ago on a visitors’ visa, adding reports of eight persons, including some Indians, being found in a marsh there had vexed kin here.
Canadian police have said the deceased, who were found on the banks of St Lawrence River near Akwesasne, a community that straddles Quebec, Ontario, and New York State, is believed to be two families of Indian and Romanian descent and were crossing into USA.

Just In: A Gujarati family of four died when their boat capsized in the St Lawrence River on the Quebec – New York border. The family is from a village in Mehsana district in Gujarat. The deceased include a couple and their two adult children. pic.twitter.com/bDcxtKkegw
— Mahesh Langa (@LangaMahesh) April 2, 2023
“Two months ago, my brother, his wife, and two children went to Canada on a visitors’ visa. Yesterday morning I learned about the death of members of a family from India in Canada. I tried to contact my brother but was not able to do so. This caused suspicion that they were our family members,” Chaudhary told reporters.
A Mehsana district administration official said Malekpura village residents approached the collector with a request to make arrangements for the bodies of the four deceased to be brought back to their native village.
“It is confirmed that four members of a family from Manekpur village in Vijapur taluka of Mehsana went to Canada on a visitor’s visa and tried to cross the river. The villagers approached us seeking help to bring back their bodies, which we have reported to the state government,” the official said.
Chaudhary said the family’s suspicion was confirmed after they found that the names of the victims circulating on Whatsapp groups of his relatives settled in Canada were that of his brother, wife and two children.
He identified the four who left for Canada Praveeni Chaudhary (50), his wife Diksha (45), son Meet (20), and daughter Vidhi (24).

Former state home minister Vipul Chaudhary told reporters the government should make arrangements for the bodies of the victims to be brought back here, and termed it a very sad and shocking incident.
If something untoward of this sort happens, then the government must ensure the bodies are brought back, the former minister added. On January 19 last year, four members of a family from Dingucha village in Gujarat’s Gandhinagar froze to death while trying to illegally cross into USA from Canada.

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#USCanada #border #deaths #deceased #Gujarat
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 2, 2023
Four Pak soldiers killed in terror attack along Iran border

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Karachi: At least four Pakistan Army soldiers were killed on Saturday in a terror attack along the Pakistan-Iran border in Balochistan’s Kech district, according to the military’s media wing.
“On April 1, 2023, a group of terrorists operating from the Iranian side attacked a routine border patrol of Pakistani security forces along the Pakistan-Iran Border in Jalgai Sector, district Kech,” an Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement said.
The ISPR said that “necessary contact” with the Iranian side was being made for “effective action against terrorists” on their territory and to prevent such incidents in the future.

Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah condemned the attack and paid tribute to those killed.
“The sons of the country are laying down their lives to protect their land, the whole nation salutes them, the nation is united in the war against terrorism,” he tweeted, adding that “this scourge will be eradicated”.
In January, four security personnel were killed during “terrorist activity” from across the Pakistan-Iran border in Balochistan’s Panjgur district.
The incident was condemned by Pakistan’s senior officials and the Foreign Office asked Iran to punish the culprits and ensure a thorough investigation.

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#Pak #soldiers #killed #terror #attack #Iran #border
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 1, 2023
Border trade between Pakistan & China to resume next week after 3 years

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Islamabad: After a three-year hiatus, Pakistan and China are set to resume trade from Monday through the Khunjerab Pass – the only land route between the two all-weather allies, a media report said on Saturday.
The Khunjerab Pass was closed in November 2019 to contain the transmission of the COVID-19 virus between the two countries.
The arrangements to reopen the border point for bilateral trade and other activities under the China-Pakistan Eco nomic Corridor (CPEC) have been finalised by both sides, the Dawn newspaper reported.

The USD 60 billion CPEC, which connects Gwadar Port in Balochistan with China’s Xinjiang province, is the flagship project of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The CPEC is a network of roads, railways, pipelines, and ports in Pakistan connecting China to the Arabian Sea.
Gilgit-Baltistan Home Secretary Rana Mohammad Saleem Afzal said that officials on both sides agreed to reopen Khunjerab Pass for trade and travel activities from April 3. He added that the process of issuing border passes would start soon, the report said.
“Most important aspect is that it’s a CPEC route. CPEC consignments will enter Pakistan through Khunjerab Pass from China,” he said.
Under an agreement, trade and travel activities between the two countries through the Khunjerab Pass start annually on April 1 and close on November 30. Daily bus service also plies from the Sost Valley of the Gilgit-Baltistan region to the Xinjiang province of China, the report said.
The first trade activity between China and Pakistan under the CPEC started via the Karakoram Highway in November 2016.

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Hina Rabbani Khar, said that the federal government had been working to revive CPEC activities, the report said. She added that all hurdles in the bilateral trade’s way would be removed.
The prolonged closure of the Khunjerab Pass caused immense financial hardships to the local business community, and thousands of workers became jobless, the report said, quoting officials.
During the last three years, the Pass was occasionally opened for emergency cargo transportation from China to Pakistan on specific days.
The volume of trade between the two countries would increase after the reopening of the Khunjerab Pass, Gilgit-Baltistan Collector of Customs Syed Fawad Ali Shah was quoted as saying in the report.
He said all required arrangements had been finalised for normal trade at the Sost dry port. Shah added that he met traders, the port management and other stakeholders, who were all happy and assured the administration of their cooperation in smooth trade activities at the dry port.
Haji Liaquat of the Gilgit-Baltistan Importers and Exporters Association said that the people affiliated with trade between the two countries were optimistic about the revival of economic activities in the region, according to the report.
He added that the people of the region and the government exchequer suffered losses worth billions of rupees owing to the prolonged halt of trade at the Sost dry port.
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#Border #trade #Pakistan #China #resume #week #years
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 1, 2023
India-China border now stable, situation of ’emergency control’ over: Chinese diplomat

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Kolkata: The earlier situation of “emergency control” at the India-China border is a matter of the past, and overall it is stable at present, a senior Chinese diplomat said here.
Interacting with journalists on Friday evening, Minister Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in India, Chen Jianjun, said the two Asian giants continue to maintain communication via diplomatic and military channels, promoting the transition of the border situation to “normalised management and control”.
“The current border situation is overall stable,” he said.
Indian and Chinese soldiers clashed along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh on December 9, resulting in minor injuries to a few personnel from both sides. The clash near Yangtse in the sensitive sector took place amid the border standoff between the two sides in eastern Ladakh.
The ties between India and China nosedived significantly following the fierce clash in Galwan Valley in June 2020 that marked the most serious military conflict between the two neighbours in decades.
“The Chinese side has always viewed and handled China-India relations from a strategic and long-term perspective. Although the relationship faces some difficulties, China’s position has never wavered and we have been committed to pushing it back on the track of healthy and steady development,” Jianjun said.
He said the two countries could draw strength from their ancient civilisations, and share oriental wisdom with the world, so as to jointly maintain the stability of the international order.
“In a world intertwined with changes and chaos, China and India could speak out loud for more institutional rights of developing countries. The two countries working together will bear on the future of Asia and beyond,” he added.

Jianjun said China supports India in fulfilling its role during its presidency of G20 and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
“China and India’s bilateral trade continues to grow. Cultural, scientific, technological, educational and other people-to-people exchanges and cooperation resume in an orderly manner,” he said.
The diplomat said China and India share similar positions on many regional and international issues, and have extensive common interests in South-South cooperation, development and poverty reduction, climate change and energy security.
“We believe that China and India could find a way for the neighbouring countries to live in peace and develop together, so as to realise the ‘Asian Century’,” he added.
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#IndiaChina #border #stable #situation #emergency #control #Chinese #diplomat
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 1, 2023
Powerful blast creates crater in ground near India-Pak border in J-K’s Kathua

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Hiranagar: A powerful blast has occurred at a hamlet near the India-Pakistan border in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district, creating a huge crater in the ground and triggering fear among the locals, officials said on Thursday.
Sources said it appears to be an IED blast. they said.
The news of a blast was received from some villagers. They said that they could hear a loud explosoin. The situation is under control. Search operation launched, investigation is on. Search operation will be conducted in the morning as well: Shivdeep Singh, SSP Kathua pic.twitter.com/E5yPj2UzgW
— Jammu Kashmir News Network 🇮🇳 (@TheYouthPlus) March 30, 2023
Information about the explosion was received around 9.30 pm on Wednesday, SSP Kathua Shivdeep Singh Jamwal told PTI.
“We have also launched a search operation Thursday morning. The bomb squad has collected the samples from the site and sent them for tests,” the SSP said.
Block Development Committee (BDC) chairman Ram Lal Kaliya, a resident of Saniyal village which is just 300 metres from the border post, said, “Around 9.30 pm on Wednesday we heard an explosion. I informed the post incharge who also confirmed the sound of the blast.”
The blast site was located after one-and-half hours, he said, adding that a big crater was found in an agriculture field.
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#Powerful #blast #creates #crater #ground #IndiaPak #border #JKs #Kathua
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 30, 2023
House Republicans are facing a familiar problem as they try to steer a high-profile package of border bills to the floor. Let’s call it the Lone Star State Standoff.

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“If they try to jam them through, they’re gonna fail on the floor,” Rep. Tony Gonzales warned of the bills.

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#House #Republicans #facing #familiar #problem #steer #highprofile #package #border #bills #floor #Lets #call #Lone #Star #State #Standoff
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

March 28, 2023
Border issue very complicated; but neither side want war, confrontation: Chinese envoy

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New Delhi: China and India will have to face the “difficulties” arising out of the border situation but none of the two countries want war or confrontation, Charge D’affaires at the Chinese embassy Ma Jia said on Wednesday.
Addressing a media briefing here, Ma described the situation along the border areas as “very complicated” and said it was not easy to reach an agreement which was the reason the two countries were holding discussions through the established Working Mechanism for Consultation and Cooperation and the senior commander-level meetings.
She said the situation with regard to the Ukraine issue had “intensified” since the consensus at the G20 Summit at Bali and it was now “more difficult to reach the accommodation”.
Her remarks come against the backdrop of a joint statement issued following a meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping indicating that the two sides will oppose the use of multilateral platforms to take up “irrelevant issues”.
China is yet to name its Ambassador to India after Sun Weidong completed his tenure in October last year. Senior diplomat Ma has been in-charge of the mission in New Delhi.
Earlier, in her suo moto remarks, Ma has said the current situation on the border was stable and China and India were in maintaining communication through the established channels – Working Mechanism for Consultation and Cooperation and the senior commander level meetings.
“There are difficulties, I have just said that. But, we have to face it. We are also confident that China and India do not want war. Neither of us want a war. Neither of us want confrontation along the border areas,” the top Chinese diplomat in India said, giving her assessment of the border situation.
She said the border issue has lived through the history of many years and it was not easy to reach an agreement.

“That is why we keep on talking about it. We have to face the problems and we have to talk. I think the intention on both sides is to improve relations. Our two leaders already have consensus on that and I think we can find a way out,” Ma said.
Amid indications that Russia and China will oppose raising of the Ukraine issue on multilateral platforms, the Chinese diplomat said reaching a consensus at the G20 could be difficult if “prominent security issues” were raised at a forum established to deliberate on economic and financial matters.
“As long as you are out of the track and discussing prominent security issues on economic and financial platforms, it is very difficult to reach consensus. In G20, we have this consensus principle. Even if one country does not agree, it is not a consensus,” she said.
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#Border #issue #complicated #side #war #confrontation #Chinese #envoy
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 22, 2023