National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Friday suggested that various central armed police forces of the country should have “jointness” and interoperability among themselves like the ongoing plan for the defence forces.The about ten lakh strength central armed police forces include the BSF, CRPF, ITBP, CISF and SSB apart from the NDRF and NSG and they are deployed for rendering a variety of internal security duties in the hinterland and at the borders.
“Should we think about the jointness in our CPOs (central police organisations). Jointness where we can have interoperability in weapons and other things. We are a huge force now. We have also got the same type of duties, inter-mingling duties at many places whether it’s a question of procurement, communication training standardisation,” he said.
“India’s economic progress probably could have been faster if we had more secure borders. In the foreseeable future I don’t think that our borders are going to be as secure as we will require for our fast economic growth.”
“So, the responsibility on the border guarding forces becomes very very heavy. They have got to remain on alert 24×7 and they have got to see our national interest…,” he said.
Borders not only determine the limit of our sovereignty, they are not only important for our territorial integrity but they also have an impact on our internal security and stability, Doval, a former head of the intelligence bureau (IB), said.