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India set to build laser fences along border with Pakistan

Indian Border Security Force (BSF) commandos take part in a training exercise at the Kharkan STC Training Camp at Hoshiarpur, around 60 kms from Jalandhar, in the northwestern state of Punjab, on January 12, 2016. (AFP photo)

A senior Indian security official says New Delhi plans to build laser fences along "vulnerable" stretches of its border with arch rival Pakistan. 

A senior home ministry official, whose name was not revealed, said on Tuesday that the country’s armed forces will soon erect the fences in the northwestern state of Punjab that borders Pakistan.

"We will soon use laser wall technology developed by India's Border Security Force to plug all riverine and other unfenced vulnerable stretches along the Pakistan border in Punjab," AFP quoted the official as saying.  

A laser beam over a river sets off a loud siren when someone passes through it, the source added.

The unnamed security official also noted that laser fences have already been tested along stretches of the de facto border dividing the disputed region of Kashmir. 

The latest developments come as senior officials in New Delhi blame assailants belonging to a Pakistan-based militant group for the audacious attack on the base in Punjab state close to the Pakistan border earlier this month that resulted in the death of at least seven Indian soldiers

Officials said the fatal January 2 assault on the Pathankot air base bore the hallmarks of previous attacks by Pakistan-based militant groups. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.

Indian army soldiers take up position on the perimeter of an air force base in Pathankot to repel an attack by militants on January 3, 2016. (AFP photo)

Based on information provided by India, Pakistan has launched a crackdown against a banned militant organization believed to be behind the air base attack.

The latest developments come as violence, including cross-border fire exchanges, has recently flared up between Indian and Pakistani troops along the disputed de facto border in Kashmir. The two sides have accused each other of provocation.

Pakistan and India have been engaged in hostility over Kashmir ever since their independence from British rule and their partition in 1947. Both neighbors claim the region in full but have partial control over it. Pakistan controls one-third of Kashmir, with the remaining two-thirds under India’s control.

Islamabad and New Delhi agreed on a ceasefire in 2003, and launched a peace process the following year. The process was, however, suspended after over 160 people lost their lives in the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks, which New Delhi blamed on Pakistan-based militants. Pakistan has vehemently denied India’s claim.


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