CHANDIGARH: Top officials of the Army, Border Security Force (BSF) and Punjab Police met at Western Command, Chandimandir, to strengthen coordination and border management against drone-enabled narcotics smuggling along the India-Pakistan border in Punjab.
The meeting focused on the growing use of drones to smuggle drugs and other contraband across the border and on strengthening coordinated responses, surveillance and intelligence sharing.
A post on X by Western Command said, “HQ #WesternCommand hosted a focused interaction on the emerging challenge of drone-enabled narcotics trafficking along the border. Mr PK Sinha, SDGP Law & Order, Punjab, along with the ADGP, Anti-Narcotics Task Force, Punjab, shared perspectives on the evolving narco-drone threat and measures to strengthen coordinated response mechanisms, technology integration and operational synergy.”
“Lt Gen #PushpendraSingh, AVSM, SM, #Armcommander, #Westerncommand, underscored the importance of inter-agency coordination, technology-enabled surveillance and concerted action to effectively counter emerging border security challenges,” it concluded.
Sources said the meeting discussed creating a unified intelligence grid, improving intelligence sharing, regularly exchanging inputs from drone wreckage analysis and forensics, and strengthening night surveillance along vulnerable stretches of the border.
The officials also discussed regular operational reviews, joint border grid meetings and coordination to counter narco-terrorism. Measures to break the narco-terror nexus, deploy counter-drone systems and conduct joint training for counter-drone and anti-smuggling operations were also discussed.
The meeting also focused on preventing the cross-border movement of drugs, weapons and illegal human crossings and improving coordination among the forces responsible for border management.
The meeting came days after Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann called for closer cooperation between the state government and the Army on border security and anti-drone measures. On August 12, Chief of Army Staff Gen Dhiraj Seth met Mann at his residence in Chandigarh, where civil-military coordination, regional security, border management, defence preparedness, recruitment and rehabilitation of Agniveers were discussed.
In July, the Ministry of Home Affairs told Parliament that drone-assisted smuggling had increased since 2021. Punjab accounted for 298 of the 305 such incidents reported across the country in 2025.
The meeting was chaired by Lt Gen Pushpendra Singh, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command. Lt Gen HS Sahi, Chief of Staff, Western Command, Parveen Sinha, Special Director General (Law and Order), Punjab, and Nilabh Kishore, Additional DGP, Anti-Narcotics Task Force, Punjab, were among those present.
