India to soon create an anti-drone unit for border security: Amit Shah
We have had an encouraging response from the CIBMS deployed along the riverine border in Assam's Dhubri but some improvements are required: Home Minister
A file image of a drone (Source: IANS)
Jodhpur, Dec. 9: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said India will soon create a comprehensive anti-drone unit to secure its borders.
Shah made this statement, highlighting that the "menace" of unmanned aerial vehicles is going to get serious in the coming days.
Addressing Border Security Forces (BSF) troops at the 60th Raising Day event of the force in Jodhpur at its training camp, about 300 km from the India-Pakistan border, Shah said the initial results of a "laser equipped anti-drone gun-mounted" mechanism have been encouraging.
This has led to an increase in drone neutralisation and detection cases, up from 3 per cent to 55 per cent, along the India-Pakistan border in Punjab, he said.
"We are going to create a comprehensive anti-drone unit for the country in the coming time," Shah said.
According to official data, more than 260 drones have been downed or recovered from India's border with Pakistan this year as compared to about 110 in 2023.
The maximum number of such interdictions of drones carrying arms and drugs have taken place in Punjab and very few in Rajasthan and Jammu. The minister reviewed the "The drone menace is going ceremonial parade, took salute and awarded medals to gallantry award winners and gave away some other decorations.
The Border Security Force (BSF), which has a strength of about 2.65 lakh personnel, was raised on December 1, 1965. It is primarily tasked with guarding more than 6,300 km of Indian fronts 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 border in Assam's Dhubri (India-Bangladesh international border) but some improvements are required," he said.
The 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 in the future.
This is Modi government's "biggest achievement" vis-a-vis enhancing border security and working for the population living in these remote areas with a fund allocation of Rs 4,800 crore. It is being run on an "experimental basis" currently in around 3,000 villages, he said.
- With inputs from news agencies