​Union Home Minister Amit Shah held an important meeting with senior Gorkha leaders today at a resort in Sukna, Siliguri. Chief Secretary Manoj Agarwal, Interlocutor Pankaj Singh, IB Director Mahesh Dikshit, Hill Affairs State Minister Bishal Lama, Lok Sabha MP Raju Bista, Rajya Sabha MP Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha President Bimal Gurung, and Gorkha National Liberation Front President Mann Ghisingh were present. Five other Gorkha MLAs and some other Gorkha leaders were also present.

​Briefing the media after the meeting, Darjeeling Lok Sabha MP Raju Bista said that the meeting was very fruitful and that all the Gorkha leaders constructively presented their issues. After hearing the leaders, the Chief Minister, Suvendu Adhikari, also expressed his views and commitment regarding the concerned issues. After the meeting, the Home Minister announced that a high-level committee to resolve the issues would be formed under the chairmanship of Interlocutor Pankaj Singh, former BSF Director and Deputy National Security Advisor.

 

​GJMM Secretary Roshan Giri also briefed the media, stating that the meeting was very fruitful and satisfactory. Additionally, Harsh Vardhan Shringla emphasised that a solution for the Darjeeling Hills, Terai and Dooars regions should be achieved within the constitutional framework, a point on which all leaders agreed.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah also held a meeting to review security arrangements along the country’s eastern borders, with a special focus on strengthening security at the Siliguri Corridor, also called the ‘Chicken’s Neck.’

 

Mr. Shah held the meeting with senior officials of West Bengal and central security forces at Sukna, on the outskirts of Siliguri, on the third and final day of his visit to the state.

Senior officials of the Border Security Force and Sashastra Seema Bal, deployed along the borders, also attended the meeting. The discussions focused on strengthening border surveillance, improving coordination among central security forces, intelligence agencies, and the state police and administration, and preparing a framework for a proposed ‘Triangular Security Grid’.

 

The meeting assumes significance as Siliguri is located close to the international borders with Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh. The narrow Siliguri Corridor is also the principal land link connecting the Northeast with the rest of the country.