* Won’t fire first on borders: HM
NEW DELHI, Sept 11: India can be called “more Islamic than Pakistan” as more Muslims live here than that country, Home Minister Rajnath Singh today told the chief of Pakistan Rangers who called on him to discuss ways to keep the border peaceful.
During the interaction, Singh said India wants peace with all neighbours, including Pakistan, and will not fire the first bullet but asked the Rangers to ensure no infiltration takes place from their side.
In his response, Maj Gen Umar Farooq Burki, the head of Pakistan Rangers’ delegation, told Singh that he was the “mere DG of a force and not the leadership” like the Home Minister and could not give any commitment in this regard. He said he would convey Singh’s message to the Pakistani leadership.
Burki said his country also wanted peace along the border and cordial relations with India and that there could have been some incidents at the border where firing took place due to misunderstanding or by mistake.
Singh said that “Like India, Pakistan, too, is a victim of terrorism” and both countries must unite against the menace.
The Home Minister noted that India is home to all the 72 ‘firkas’ (sects) of Muslims, which no other country has.
“India has more Muslim population than Pakistan. India can be called as more Islamic than Pakistan,” he said.
Burki, who is here for talks with BSF DG D K Pathak, responded, “Your country is very big and vast. It is a great nation. We also want to have very good relations with India.”
He also mentioned that both sides hope to defuse the situation along the Indo-Pak border in future amicably.
Singh said India wants friendly relations with all its neighbours and that was the reason why Prime Minister Narendra Modi had invited all heads of neighbouring countries when he took charge and even met his Pakistan counterpart Nawaz Sharif at Ufa in Russia.
“India will not fire the first bullet towards Pakistan along the border,” Singh told Pakistan Rangers.
The Home Minister further told the Pakistan Rangers it should ensure that no infiltration takes place from Pakistan to India.
The Home Minister said the forces should stop firing at each other and illumination bomb should be used at best for whatever reasons.
He said India wanted to engage in dialogue with Pakistan at different levels and that was why Modi had met Sharif at Ufa in July.
“Unfortunately, the NSA level talks did not take place. But we want to have a good relation with Pakistan. I am saying this not for formality’s sake, but ‘tah-e-dil-se’ (from the bottom of the heart),” Singh told the visiting delegation.
Quoting former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Singh said “we can change friends, but not the neighbours” and that was why it was necessary to have cordial relations with all neighbouring countries.
Singh complimented both border guarding forces for having a meaningful interaction, and said forces or civilians should not be targeted on either side. He said both the countries are affected by terrorism and all countries have to cooperate to fight this evil.
He said the uniform of the security forces is of great value and should be respected, not targeted. Nobody should fire towards uniformed personnel, he said.
Singh told the Pakistan Rangers delegation that if the forces of the South Asian region can come together, they can become ‘shaktiman’ (strong) and handle any situation.
The Home Minister said he was happy that the two forces had agreed to use the faster fax and email as the new means of communication between their commanders as compared to the conventional procedure of organising flag meetings.
The meeting of the Rangers and BSF delegations with Singh lasted for about 30 minutes.
Pathak told reporters outside the Home Minister’s office that the talks had been very cordial on the first day.
“The meeting yesterday took place in a very cordial atmosphere. We have raised all the issues. The response was very positive. The meeting was extended by a day, which is unusual. This is because of the positivity in the meeting,” he said.
The Directors General of the two forces are expected to sign a joint record of discussions tomorrow following which the visiting delegation will leave for Pakistan.
Meanwhile, India and Pakistan today decided to resolve sensitive issues like ceasefire violations and infiltration along the border by quickly getting in touch with each other over email and mobile, besides agreeing on some new CBMs during their bilateral DG-level talks here.
Both sides maintained that the dialogue, which started yesterday, was held in a very cordial and smooth manner and all the issues concerning the two countries along the Indo-Pak border were taken up and addressed.
The Pak Rangers and BSF decided to new Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) by having regular exchange of sporting and cultural troupes.
“The two sides today concluded their DG-level talks, which were extended by a day, and resolved that ensuring peace and tranquility on the Indo-Pak border is the utmost aim of both the countries. Some new modes of modern communication and CBMs have been finalised by the Rangers and BSF and they will be jointly endorsed by the chiefs tomorrow,” a top Government source said.
Sources in the Pakistan Government also spoke about the initiation of these measures as they said the meeting was held in a “cordial and congenial atmosphere”.
They said the two sides agreed to stop ceasefire violations along the International Border (IB) “through enhanced communication via multiple modes at all possible levels”.
Pakistan said that it does not support any illegal border crossing as a matter of policy and despite this, both the sides agreed to work out some “additional methods to further strengthen border control”.
Sources on the Indian side said both the forces, up to the level of Directors General, will exchange their mobile numbers, email ids and fax numbers for quick and swift communication to resolve a situation depending on a case-to-case basis.
Both the Rangers and the Border Security Force will also hold either volleyball or basketball matches on their respective soils as the two forces already have teams in these sporting disciplines.
“The talks were very conducive and everything was like a cakewalk. The Pakistani side was very accommodative and reasonable and they heard BSF out. The firm decision to have peace at the border has been endorsed by the two sides very firmly with a special impetus that civilians on either sides should not be harmed,” a source in the Indian side said.
The communication channels along the IB and at the level of ground commanders will also be enhanced, sources said, adding in case India spots an illegal movement along the border it will fire “warning shots” to alert the Rangers, illuminate the area by flare shots and subsequently take on the suspects or infiltrators.
Both the forces have also decided to enhance measures to help and aid inadvertent crossers of the border.
“There was a free flow of dialogue and India extracted what was desired. The other side has reciprocated positively and it is expected that the hostilities on this border will go down after the end of these talks,” the source said.
Both the DGs will sign a joint record of discussions tomorrow at the border guarding forces’ headquarters here after which the Rangers will board a special BSF plane to Amritsar where they will witness the retreat ceremony from the Indian side at Attari in the evening.
Post this, BSF commanders of the Punjab frontier will formally bid a farewell to the Rangers delegation led by their DG Maj Gen Umar Farooq Burki and then they will cross over to Wagah in Pakistan. (PTI)
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