In a strong and timely message underscoring national relevance, Leader of the Opposition in the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly and former Chief Minister, Dr. Mukul Sangma, on Friday emphasized that no international border should remain porous—highlighting the critical implications for national, social, and economic security amid escalating geopolitical tensions.
Speaking to media persons, Dr. Sangma stated, “No international border should be porous for security reasons—for economic security, for social security, and for national security. From all these perspectives, no international border should be porous.”
His remarks come in the backdrop of rising regional unrest, with supporters of Bangladesh’s interim government chief, Muhammad Yunus, announcing a protest rally in Dhaka on Saturday. This follows reports that Yunus has threatened to resign from his post.
Supporters of Yunus have called for a mass demonstration titled ‘March for Yunus’ at Dhaka’s Shahbagh, with posters surfacing across the capital, urging public participation.
Dr. Sangma’s concerns were further fueled by alleged cross-border smuggling activities, including reports of trucks transporting arecanut spotted near the Indo-Bangladesh frontier—an issue he termed “very dangerous” in the current geopolitical landscape.
“We are talking about geopolitics now—geopolitics overall—and these are all matters to be addressed by the Government of India. I am sure the Government of India is seized with this whole situation, with this whole development unfolding,” he remarked.
While recognizing that matters of international, bilateral, and geopolitical significance fall within the Union government’s purview, Dr. Sangma reaffirmed the state’s duty to provide intelligence and sound the alarm when needed.
“The state has only the responsibility of sharing the inputs, sharing the concerns, but at the end of the day, the overall responsibility of dealing with all the issues pertaining to geopolitics, international affairs, bilateral affairs between sovereign countries is vested in the Government of India. But we will have the need to flag the concerns. We should flag the concerns. I am sure the state government must have flagged the concerns,” he said.
On the issue of alleged smuggling, Dr. Sangma cautioned, “During this kind of situation, if there is smuggling going on across the international border, it is very dangerous. That’s why that issue of a few trucks carrying areca nut, which has been spotted by some people—including you, friends from the media—it is a matter of concern.”
Calling for prompt action, he urged, “The Government of India must be alerted on this. The Government of India then should crack the whip, including asking the states to pull up their socks, while aggregating the efforts of both Government of India and all other authorities.”
When asked if he was satisfied with the present state of border security, the former Chief Minister reiterated his central message with conviction:
“See, those things have always been taken up with the Government of India. We have, unfortunately, been referring to the international border, in as far as the Indo-Bangla border is concerned, as a porous border—porous international border. No international border should be porous for security reasons—for economic security, for social security, and for national security. From all these perspectives, no international border should be porous.”
