Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced on Friday in New Delhi that the Centre will launch a technology-driven “smart border” project within the next year to reinforce security along India’s borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh and make them impenetrable. Speaking at the annual Rustamji Memorial lecture organised by the Border Security Force (BSF), Shah said the initiative will rely heavily on modern surveillance technology to curb infiltration and other cross-border crimes.
Shah told BSF personnel that “the government of India has decided that not only will we stop infiltration but we will find each and every infiltrator and send them out of the country.” He added the government will not allow “artificial change in our demography being attempted from the other side,” framing demographic alteration as a key security concern.
The Home Minister said the smart border project will be launched “within the 60th year of [the BSF’s] raising” and will make the Pakistan and Bangladesh frontiers impenetrable through major technical assistance. The programme, he said, will use drones, radars and smart cameras to strengthen surveillance and border management, addressing gaps that traditional methods can no longer cover along nearly 6,000 km of frontier.
Describing the Pakistan and Bangladesh borders as “vulnerable,” Shah argued that the length and terrain of the frontiers make it difficult to rely solely on conventional guarding. He emphasised that border security must be treated as a shared territorial responsibility involving central agencies, state governments and local administrations, and urged closer coordination to identify infiltrators and close operational gaps.
Shah listed multiple challenges that the project aims to counter, including illegal infiltration, narcotics smuggling, drone-based movement of arms and ammunition, fake Indian currency notes, cattle smuggling and organised crime along border belts. He said these threats require both enhanced technology and multi-agency cooperation.
On internal security, Shah said the Centre had taken a “firm” decision to eliminate Naxalism and claimed the target of freeing India from Naxal influence had been achieved recently; he urged security agencies to focus on addressing root causes, not just symptoms. He also announced plans for a large-scale anti-narcotics operation within the next year.
The Home Minister asked BSF units to work closely with local administrations and noted that BJP governments in Assam, Tripura and West Bengal were committed to preventing cross-border infiltration. He said the Union Home Ministry will soon convene a meeting with the chief ministers of those states to review border security measures.
Shah added that a high-powered demography mission, previously declared by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will be announced by the Union government shortly. He also said the Centre is planning a major welfare programme for CAPF personnel (Central Armed Police Forces) as part of wider efforts to strengthen frontline forces.
Original Source: https://nenews.in/politics/centre-to-launch-tech-driven-smart-border-project-next-year-to-curb-infiltration/51697/
Category: Politics,border project,Border Security Force (BSF),Union Home Minister Amit Shah
Tags:
Publish Date: 2026-05-22 21:38:00
