Pakistan Army infantry. (Photo : Pakistan Army)
Pakistan is uncertain as to what to make of India's "plan" to build a defensive wall protected by troops and technology along its entire 3,232 kilometer long border with Pakistan.
Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria said the announcement earlier this month by Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh that India will "completely seal" the border with Pakistan by December 2018 runs contrary to India's goal of establishing a peaceful neighborhood with Pakistan.
Singh said India intends to seal the entire border with Pakistan and that a proper monitoring mechanism, including the use of technology, will be emplaced for the purpose. His made this announcement after reviewing the security situation along the border with the Ministers from Rajasthan, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir and Gujarat that share a border with Pakistan.
Pakistan remains in the dark about India's true intentions, however. The plan might be for real but India might only be talking about it to sound tough amid dangerous border tensions with Pakistan.
"On the one hand, they talk of establishing peaceful neighborhood, and on the other hand their actions contradict their claims," he said.
Zakaria, however, said India hasn't yet officially communicated with Pakistan about the decision.
"India has not formally conveyed any such plan (sealing the border) to Pakistan. We don't have the details," he said.
Besides building a physical wall to isolate Pakistan, India last month announced an effort to build a diplomatic wall to isolate Pakistan diplomatically.
Zakaria was dismissive of this so-called effort to isolate Pakistan internationally, saying his country was "not facing international isolation" and was very much engaged in world affairs.
"More and more countries are engaging with Pakistan. Pakistan's strategic location is of immense importance," he said, citing the examples of recent engagements with Russia and Iran.
Pakistan and India have been at loggerheads since Muslim Kashmiri militants attacked an Indian Army base at the town of Uri in Indian-controlled Kashmir last Sept. 18, killing 19 Indian soldiers. India replied a week later with what it called "surgical strikes" at terrorist launchpads in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir.
