Rohan Ramesh

Border Security Force (BSF), the guardians of India’s international borders, and India’s first line of defence, is planning to modernise. The unceasing intrusions from across the border from Pakistan, and the challenges that the force faces in curbing smuggling and trafficking on the eastern borders, have called for acquisition of advanced equipment for the 2.5-million strong elite force. It is tasked with guarding India’s international borders with Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Myanmar.

BSF personnel monitoring the border

The BSF, which is the largest border guard force in the world, has come a long way. From a few battalions when it was raised in December 1965, it now has 186 battalions with a sanctioned strength of 257,363 personnel including an air wing, marine wing, artillery regiments, and commando units.

Headed by a director general, the BSF by itself would be the 18th largest armed force in the world in terms of number of personnel. This puts it ahead of the Japanese Defence Forces (JDF) and many European armies including that of France and Germany.

The most onerous responsibility of the force is in Kashmir, where it guards along with the army a stretch of 360 kilometres of international border from Paharpur in Kathua to River Chenab in Akhnoor, and north of Chenab to Kargil, a distance 760 kilometres. It also guards the borders in Kutch, with its marine wing guarding Sir Creek in the Arabian sea, and Sunderbans in the east.

It successfully completed the task of erecting a fence on the border with Pakistan, and is busy setting up electronic sensors to make the fence inviolable.

Its main duties are to provide a sense of security to the population living in border areas, prevent trans-border crimes including ingress and exit of aliens, and stand shoulder to shoulder with the army in ensuring that the borders are inviolable. It has on its own fought insurgents in Manipur successfully over the past