Border intrusions reduced by 35 percent: Rajnath

New Delhi, March 16 (IANS) Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday said there was more than 35 percent reduction in cases of border intrusion in 2015 over the previous year.

Speaking in the Lok Sabha on the issue of border security, intelligence sharing and the steps taken by the government to ensure security and safety of the country in the wake of the Pathankot attack, he said the government will carry out security audit of the borders to identify the lapses there.

"In 2014, about 222 cases of border intrusion was recorded, while in 2015, 121 were recorded. There was a reduction of more than 35 percent. This has been possible only because of the valiant efforts of the security forces," he said.

"We will be doing security audit to identify the lapses. This will help in doing away with the lapses," Rajnath Singh added.

He said that compared to the previous year (2014), in 2015 there was a reduction of 17 percent in the killings of security forces, and when it came to the question of the ordinary citizens, there was a reduction of 39 percent.

"In the last two months too, there has been reduction of 35 percent. The entire credit goes to the security forces and the army of the country," said Rajnath Singh.

On the issue of border security, he said: "As far as border security is concerned, almost 558 km of the Punjab border is shared with Pakistan. About 12 km is riverine. It is true that security forces are not deployed there. Maybe sometimes, terrorists do use the riverine route to enter India. They could have taken that route.

"Now, we are looking into technological solutions to prevent the terrorists from entering India through the riverine route. This time our government is going to spend more money to secure the borders," he added.

On the issue of Gurdaspur police superintendent Salwinder Singh, Rajnath said: "Salwinder Singh is being questioned by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). The agency is investigating it and I cannot comment on it right now."

"On the question of close and effective coordination, it has always been there with the intelligence agencies and the security forces. There has been no compromise on that. But we cannot claim that our strategic plan is foolproof. Therefore, we'll welcome all kinds of suggestions on strategic affairs and security issues."

"As far as intelligence inputs sharing is concerned, we have shared it with the state governments. We have also shared it with Punjab. Multi-agency centre is also there working 24X7. Through this too we've been working on intelligence sharing," he added.

Rajnath Singh also said the government wants good relations with its neighbours but not at the cost of the nation's pride.

"We want good relations with all our neighbours including Pakistan, but not at the cost of nation's dignity and respect. I cannot doubt the intentions of any government in ensuring security and safety of the country.

"I know every government has tried their best in ensuring this. It should not be a battle between your government and our government. I need the support of all the political parties and the people in ensuring security of the country," he said.