PRIME Minister Imran Khan Monday directed the formation of a special division for the Border Management System (BMS) under the control of Additional Secretary Interior. He gave these directions while chairing a high-level meeting on further activating and improving the existing border management system.
Border management has critical importance for all countries of the world but it is particularly so for Pakistan because of volatility of the region and the menace of terrorism which has implications for national defence, security and economy. There are ten different ministries and entities involved in the process of border management but they were unable to make an overall impact due to lack of coordination and duplication of responsibilities and roles. This amounted to wastage of precious national resources and, therefore, creation of a special division at the federal level for sharing of information and data would hopefully prove to be the first step towards effective border management at affordable cost. This is because it came as a big embarrassment for the country and the government when it was revealed that there was no reliable data about the return of Pakistanis from Iran in the wake of spread of virus in the neighbouring country. Similarly, for the first time in over seven decades, efforts are being made by Pakistan Army to formalize the border with Afghanistan and this has started to yield positive results in terms of reduction in smuggling and an effective check on illegal border movements. The project for fencing of border, construction of vigilance posts and comprehensive arrangements at all crossing points for checking of men and material should be completed on a priority basis. Working of all relevant agencies should be streamlined including possibility of their merger to get optimum results at a minimum cost.
