JAMMU, Jan 31 (2003): India expects to finish fencing its international border with Pakistan in the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir in the next two years, a senior security official said on Friday.
“Last year we completed over 40 km (25 miles) of border fencing and we expect to complete the work by the end of 2005,” Dilip Trivedi, inspector general of the Border Security Force (BSF), told reporters.
Indian authorities began fencing the 190-km (120-mile) border with Pakistan at the beginning of 2001 to prevent illegal movement of people and goods between the two nuclear-armed rivals.
Officials said work on the project had sometimes been stalled in the past due to heavy firing from Pakistan which objects to the fencing as it considers the entire frontier in Jammu and Kashmir as disputed.
The South Asian rivals, who have fought two wars over Kashmir, often exchange fire across their frontier and a ceasefire line that divides the Himalayan region between them.
India accuses Pakistan of stoking the revolt in Kashmir by sending rebels against the border into the state. Pakistan denies the charge, saying it provides only moral and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri struggle for freedom.
