Alleged change in security norms to allow Adani project at Indo-Pak border will compromise national security: Congress

Congress President and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge speaking to mediapersons.
| Photo Credit: ARUN KULKARNI

The Congress on Wednesday (February 12, 2025) asked the Narendra Modi-led Union government to come clean on the claims made in a news report that it had changed the rules regarding land allocation near international borders to help the Adani group build a renewable energy park in Gujarat’s Rann of Kutch at the India-Pakistan border.

Reacting to an investigation by The Guardian, Congress leaders said that the government move jeopardised national security, and asked the Prime Minister and the Defence Minister to “explain why such a drastic step to compromise our national security was taken”.

Neither the government nor the Adani group has responded to the news reports and the comments made by the Opposition party.

Security protocols changed

The investigation by The Guardian said that the Adani Group is setting up a solar plant and building the world’s largest renewable energy park at Khavda in Kutch, barely a kilometre from the Pakistan border.

Earlier security protocols did not allow any construction in the area, but the Gujarat government wrote to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) before April 2023, seeking permission for infrastructure projects to be built on the land near the border, reported the British publication.

Its report claimed that a “confidential meeting” was convened in Delhi on April 21, 2023 to discuss the matter. At that time, the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) was in possession of the land that was leased out by the Gujarat government.

The Guardian further reported that by May 8, 2023, the Centre had changed the protocols to allow infrastructure projects. By August, the Adani group was in charge of the land in the Rann of Kutch, the paper added.

‘Endangered border security’

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the pseudo-nationalistic face of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has once again been unmasked.

“Narendra Modiji, you have endangered national security at our borders in order to benefit private billionaires. Is it true that you have gifted precious strategic land, just 1 km near the International Border with Pakistan, to your ‘dear friend’ by relaxing border security rules?” Mr. Kharge asked in a post on X.

“Is it not true that your government has relaxed such rules, not just at the India-Pakistan border, but also on the land adjoining Bangladesh, China, Myanmar and Nepal, thereby jeopardising our strategic and border security?” the Congress chief asked.

Mr. Kharge reiterated the concerns of defence officials quoted in the news report about the possible need “to lay mines or put in place anti-tank and anti-personnel mechanisms”.

“Why would you allow a huge private project within easy striking distance of the India-Pakistan border, thereby increasing the defence responsibilities of our armed forces and reducing their strategic advantages?” he asked.

‘PM must explain’

Congress general secretary K.C. Venugopal asked the Prime Minister and the Defence Minister to explain the need for a change in the rules.

“Are we trying to make our energy system a sitting duck against our adversaries? Are military experts who have spent decades protecting our nation mere puppets who can be sidelined? The Modi government’s cronyism is a threat to our national security. Allowing India’s largest solar project to be constructed hardly 1 km away from the Pakistan border is extremely dangerous and goes against all established military norms,” Mr. Venugopal said in a post on X.

In a post on X in Hindi, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra asked, “Has the process of handing over all the resources of the country to the Prime Minister’s ‘friend’ reached such a point that even the border security rules are being changed?”