MHA report on border floodlights has picture of Spain-Morocco border, Secy says will apologise if mistaken

The image used by the Home Ministry in its annual report was of the Spain-Morocco border, instead of the Indo-Pak border. (Source: panoramio.com)

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in its annual report purportedly used a picture of the international border running between Spain and Morocco instead of India’s border with Pakistan, while detailing information on floodlighting in the area. The picture, which is carried with the caption ‘Floodlighting along the Border’ was published in the ministry’s 2016-17 annual report. Responding to the alleged goof-up, the ministry on Wednesday said it is enquiring into the incident.

Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi said the ministry will apologise if there is a mistake. “If there is a mistake, we will apologise,” he said.

A screenshot of the border picture from the Home Ministry’s annual report 2016-17.

The Spain-Morocco border is located along the Plazas de soberanía, Ceuta, Melilla and Alborán Island along the north coast of Morocco. Melilla has a physical border called the ‘Melilla border fence’ which looks similar to the Indo-Pakistan border with floodlighting.

According to PTI, home ministry officials are trying to ascertain how the picture was sourced. Some believe it could have been sourced from the Border Security Force (BSF), which guards majority of the 3,323 kilometre boundary.

(With inputs from PTI)