Eyes on the Border

Subhashis Mittra

The fact that more than 260 drones have been downed or recovered from India’s border with Pakistan in 2024 as compared to around 110 in 2023 cannot be glossed over. The maximum number of interception of drones carrying arms and drugs have taken place in Punjab, and some in Rajasthan and Jammu.

This menace is going to get more serious in the coming days, said Union home minister Amit Shah, adding that the security establishment was engaged in tackling this issue in a ‘whole of government’ approach with the border guarding forces, defence and research organisations and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Shah made these remarks at the 60th Raising Day event of the Border Security Force (BSF) at its training camp in Jodhpur, some 300 km from the India-Pakistan border. He said that India will soon set up a comprehensive anti-drone unit for the country to secure its borders as the ‘menace’ of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) will become serious in the coming days.

While interacting with the troops, Shah said the initial results of a ‘laser equipped anti-drone gun-mounted’ mechanism have been encouraging as it led to an increase in drone neutralisation and detection cases—up from three per cent to 55 per cent, along the India-Pakistan border in Punjab. He pointed out that the Union government has sanctioned a ‘big’ budget for strengthening India’s borders—fencing, frontier i