BSF working to thwart threat of infiltration, drone use: MoS Rai
The Border Security Force (BSF) is working relentlessly to thwart the increasing challenges of infiltration, smuggling of narcotics and arms and the activity of drones, Union minister of state for home affairs Nityanand Rai said on Sunday as the force celebrated its 58th Raising Day parade.
“Your (BSF) presence along the borders ensures that there is peace in the country and you have kept the front safe for the last 57 years. The government will leave no stone unturned to provide best smart surveillance gadgets like anti drone guns and radars,” Rai said at an event held at the campus of the Guru Nanak Dev University in Amritsar, roughly 30 km from the IndiaPakistan International Border.
The MoS asserted that the government will leave “no stone unturned” in providing the BSF with the best technological
equipment and infrastructure to deal with the drone threats and other activities at the border.
Earlier, speaking at the event, BSF director general Pankaj Kumar Singh said the force has shot down a total of 17 drones along the India-Pakistan front (16 along Punjab and one along Jammu border) this year even as it is taking the help of DRDO and other scientific research organisations to detect underground tunnels that are used by terrorists to infiltrate into the country.
“DG BSF assured that every Seema Prahari will strive to protect the sovereignty of the nation’s borders even to the peril of their lives while also referring to BSF’s achievements, new initiatives and preparations to deal with future challenges arising out of the dynamic geopolitical neighbourhood,” BSF spokesperson said.
Earlier this week, Singh said in Delhi that the government has sanctioned ₹30 crore to procure surveillance cameras, drones and other monitoring gadgets and that soon 5,500 security cameras will be installed in the front areas, both at borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh.
The BSF was raised on December 1, 1965 and it is primarily tasked to guard international borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh. It has 193 operational battalions spread across the two borders and some other field formations deployed to render other internal security duties in the hinterland.