NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday announced that India will soon have a comprehensive anti-drone unit to deal with the ever-increasing menace of unmanned aerial vehicles being used for trans-border dropping of weapons and drugs along the western frontiers with Pakistan.
Speaking as the chief guest at an event to mark the Border Security Force’s (BSF) 60th Raising Day in Rajasthan’s border district of Jodhpur, the Home Minister said the initial results of a “laser-equipped anti-drone gun-mounted” mechanism have been encouraging, as this has resulted in increased incidences of drone neutralisation and detection, which has gone up from 3 per cent to 55 per cent, along the India-Pakistan border in Punjab.
“The drone menace is going to get more serious in the coming days... We are tackling this issue with a ‘whole of government’ approach with the defence and research organisations and the DRDO joining hands,” Shah said, adding: “We are going to create a comprehensive anti-drone unit for the country in the coming days”.
Recent government data shows that more than 260 drones have been downed or recovered from India’s border with Pakistan this year as compared to about 110 in 2023, as the maximum number of such interdictions of drones carrying arms and drugs have taken place in Punjab.
The Home Minister, before delivering the speech, also reviewed the ceremonial parade and took a salute and awarded medals to gallantry award winners and some other decorations.
The BSF, having personnel strength of about 2.65 lakh personnel, was raised on December 1, 1965, and is mainly tasked with guarding more than 6,300 km of India’s frontiers with Pakistan and Bangladesh apart from rendering a variety of duties in the internal security domain of the country.
Shah said the ongoing Comprehensive Integrated Border Management System (CIBMS) for securing India’s borders with Pakistan (2,289 km) and Bangladesh (4,096 km) is a work in progress. “We have had an encouraging response from the CIBMS deployed along the riverine borders in Assam’s Dhubri (India-Bangladesh international border) but some improvements are required,” he said.
The Home Minister also said that the Modi government's Vibrant Village Programme (VVP) for developing and bringing into the mainstream the population of northern borders will be implemented for all the frontier villages of the country.
Shah also noted that the Union government has sanctioned a “big” budget for strengthening India’s borders — fencing, frontier infrastructure, roads and other logistics. “Securing global recognition and the number one place for India by 2047 is not possible without our security personnel... the jawans who guard our borders with dedication,” he said.
Meanwhile, BSF Director General (DG) Daljit Singh Chawdhary said 13,226 newly trained personnel have been posted in various battalions and this will add to the “operational strength” of the force.
An additional 4,000 freshly recruited personnel are under training while about 12,000 will join the force next month to learn security and combat skills before being posted at the borders, he said.