Centre to fence India-Myanmar border at Rs 31,000 Cr Illegal infiltration primary cause of demographic changes : Shah

NEW DELHI, Jul 10
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said Thursday the Government was fencing the 1,610-km stretch of the India-Myanmar border at a cost of Rs 31,000 crore as he cautioned against demographic changes in border areas.
India’s border security system, built around the Centre’s smart border vision, Shah said, would become the most modern in the world in the coming years, as he called for a shift from isolated border outposts to an integrated security grid.
Addressing the Land Border District Superintendents of Police Conference 2026 in New Delhi, he said the Government was committed to curbing abnormal demographic growth caused by unnatural factors, adding that illegal infiltration was the primary cause of demographic changes in border areas.
Shah said the Government’s objectives included preventing proxy war, illegal infiltration, radicalisation, narcotics trafficking, smuggling, drone threats, cybercrime, organised crime, and demographic changes, while also making border areas more livable and preventing migration from these regions.
He said the Government would also move towards a holistic framework for coastal border security.
“The Centre, border guarding forces, State and district administrations, relevant Union Government stakeholders and local citizens were working together to build a strong quadrangular security grid,” he added.
“A secure border, a prosperous border region, and a vigilant society together can make the country secure,” Shah said.
Shah said steps were being taken to make the country completely free of infiltration.
“While earlier problems were permanent and solutions were temporary, the present Government was striking at the roots of the problems and making solutions permanent,” he added.
The Union Home Minister also referred to the Demography Mission, saying it would study demographic changes, identify abnormal factors behind demographic growth, and recommend measures to prevent such changes in the future.
The Indian Express