India to double security at Nepal, Bhutan borders to stem rebel flows
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-03-28 17:53

India will almost double the number of paramilitary forces at its northern borders with Nepal and Bhutan to stop the flow of rebels into the country, the government said.

Home Minister Shivraj Patil told members of the elite Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) border paramilitary force the government would deploy an additional 20,000 personnel along the two borders within two years.

India currently has 25,000 paramilitary members guarding the two borders including provincial police units.

"I am happy to announce that the cabinet has approved raising of an additional 20 battalions for the SSB," Patil told the soldiers, adding New Delhi would also set up three frontier headquarters for better policing.

The SSB currently has 25 battalions along the 2,412 kilometre borders (1,508 miles) with insurgency-striken Nepal and the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan.

Patil said the two remote borders presented new challenges to India which fears a military crackdown in Nepal to halt a rebellion will lead to an exodus of militants to link with India's own insurgency.

"For long, the two unmanned borders have presented opportunity to forces inimical to the country's interest to further their nefarious designs through subversion, militant and fundamentalist activities," Patil said on Monday.

The home minister also said India has hiked the SSB's annual spending by 47 percent to 5.32 billion rupees (115 million dollars) in the fiscal year beginning April 1 and added additional resources would help in modernising the paramilitary force.

Nepal has been fighting a rebellion since 1996 that has claimed more than 11,000 lives. On February 1, King Gyanendra sacked the four-party coalition government in Nepal and assumed absolute power to stamp out the rebellion.

India, which has called for a return to multi-party democracy in Nepal, has also suspended the supply of military hardware to Kathamndu since Gyanendra's power grab.

In late 2003 at India's urging, the Bhutanese army launched an operation to evict separatist rebels, fighting for independence in India's northeast, from their territory. India honored Bhutan's King Jigme Singye Wangchuck for his role in evicting the rebels by making him the chief guest at the 2005 Republic Day parade.

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