The administration of India and Nepal will start a joint survey of the no man's land on the Indo-Nepal border in Uttarakhand tomorrow (October 26). The objective of the survey which will be carried out in the presence of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) personnel is to remove the farms on encroached lands along the border. The administration of both neighbouring countries decided to conduct the survey following reports of widespread encroachments in the Khatima area of Udham Singh Nagar and parts of the adjoining Champawat district in Uttarakhand.
Drugs, human trafficking issues along Indo-Nepal border
The deputy inspector general of the SSB said that apart from smuggling of wild animals’ body parts and drugs, we are also giving priority to preventing human trafficking, and we have formed special teams for this. Several people living along the international border in Pithoragarh and Champawat districts of Uttarakhand have dual citizenship of India and Nepal, and such people are being identified. The SSB officer said that the personnel deployed in all the 54 border outposts of the force in Uttarakhand are trying to identify such people living in the Indian territory, who have the dual citizenship of India and Nepal. He said the SSB is also taking the help of the district administrations concerned in this regard. He said the SSB personnel keep close contact with the villagers living in the border areas in order to gain information about the arrival of any outsider there.
Border forces asked to check illegal encroachment along border area
In June this year, a 'Chintan Shivir' held by the armed forces in which the border guarding forces deployed along the front with Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and other neighbouring countries have been directed to keep a check on "illegal encroachments" and possible suspicious activities in their area of operation that may pose a security threat to the nation.
Nepal PM bats for talks to resolve border issue
Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' during his India visit in June 2003, asserted that officials from both Nepal and India should sit down for discussions to resolve the border issue between the two countries. During his visit, he met PM Modi and both the leaders vowed to resolve the vexed boundary dispute in the spirit of friendship.
