Security to be strengthened on sea and land borders

New Delhi, Nov 30 (UNI) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who called an all-party meeting in the wake of Mumbai terror attacks, tonight said the Government would strengthened security on land and sea borders to combat terrorism.

The nearly five-hour meeting, held at the Prime Minister's residence, condemned the ''dastardly act'' and called for strengthening intelligence to fight terror.

Addressing the media, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the Government would pursue the setting up of a federal investigative agency in a time-bound manner.

The Prime Minister, in his concluding remarks, said the scourage of terrorism would be fought with total determination, and all means and resources employed to fight terror.

The legal framework to deal with terrorism would be strengthened.

The meeting called for employing new mechanism for better coordination between the Centre and the States. Vigilance must be maintained to protect the cities and the mainlands.

The PM said anti-terrorist forces would be further strengthened and streamlined. The National Security Guard would be given additional facilities and the size of the force augmented.

He said steps had been initiated to establish another four NSG hubs in different parts of the country. Additionally, the special forces at the disposal of the Centre would be appropriately used in counter-insurgency operations.

The Government would further strengthening maritime and air security for which measures had been initiated. This will involve the Navy, the Coast Guard and the coastal police, as well as the Air Force and the Civil Aviation Ministry.

The progress would be further reviewed at the subsequent meetings.

The meeting also offered its deepest condolences to the families of the victims and also paid homage to the memory of the brave soldiers and security personnel killed in the attacks.

BJP leaders L K Advani and Rajnath Singh skipped the meeting.

The party was represented by Mr Jaswant Singh and Mr V K Malhotra.

Among others who attended the meeting were Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Home Minister P Chidambaram, Left leaders A B Bardhan and Prakash Karat, Rashtriya Janata Dal President Lalu Prasad, Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan and Samajwadi Party leaders Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar Singh.

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