Emphasising that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019 needs proper awareness, union DoNER minister Dr Jitendra Singh on Wednesday said the Act is going to preserve India’s vast resources, both natural and human resources.
Union minister Singh said this while delivering the keynote address on ‘Border States and National Security’, at an event organised by the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), in New Delhi.
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Speaking about the bordering states, Singh said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has placed the border areas on high priority and a lot of initiatives have been taken for the bordering areas.
He said during the last five-six years, there has been an entirely different approach on how to approach the border security.
Speaking about Jammu & Kashmir, this approach of the government has sent signals both ways across the borders and to those living in the international borders.
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This has boosted the morale of the people living in the bordering areas, he claimed.
Singh said the government has taken cognizance of the difficulties faced by the people living in the border areas.
He spoke about many initiatives taken by the government for the people living in border areas, such as constructing bunkers, toilets, Seema Bhawans and provision of cattle insurance, among others.
This has been possible because of the extreme sensitivity of the government towards these people, he added.
The union minister said Northeast India has a huge bordering area.
He said, “We owe to pay tribute to the efforts of security forces deployed along the borders.”
At the same time, he said, “We need to understand the people living near the bordering areas and respect their courage, as they are first ones to face the burnt in case of any disturbance.”
He added that their situation is not only security-related but it also has a socio-cultural impact.
The minister said security forces are perpetually in the war mode nowadays.
Earlier, the security forces were trained to fight an enemy from cross-borders and not the anti-nation elements within the country, he added.
The minister said militancy and cross-border terrorism have become a serious challenge.
The entire security dynamics have changed over the years, consequently, the obligation of security forces has also changed, he added.