India to set up 'Anti-Drone Unit' on border: Amit Shah
India will set up a large-scale anti-drone unit to strengthen security in the border areas to protect the country from drone threats, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said.
He said this in his speech as the chief guest at the 60th Raising Day parade of the BSF in Jodhpur, Rajasthan on Sunday (December 8).
He said that the drone threat may increase further in the coming days. Therefore, precautionary measures are being taken from now on.
Stating that this anti-drone unit has been formed in collaboration with the Border Security Force, the Ministry of Defense DRDO and various research departments of India, Amit Shah said that this anti-drone unit has been set up on the Punjab border with Pakistan. It can prevent drone infiltration by 55 percent, which is 3 percent more advanced than the previous anti-drone system.
Regarding the border with Bangladesh, the Indian Home Minister said that the Modi government has launched an Integrated Border Management System (CIBMS) to monitor sensitive areas along the international border and the results of the pilot project set up in Dhubri, Assam are very encouraging.
Amit Shah also said that after some further improvements to the pilot project, the CIBMS system will be used on the border with Pakistan and Bangladesh. He said that the construction of 591 km of fencing has been completed on the border with Bangladesh. Floodlights have been installed on 1,159 km of the border and 579 observation posts including 573 border outposts have been constructed.
The Modi government has also taken up several other infrastructure projects, including strengthening the border fence, building 1,812 km of inaccessible roads on the Indian side, Indian Home Minister Amit Shah said.
He said that it is impossible to meet the growing security needs of the country without the BSF. Therefore, the BSF has been increased from 25 battalions at the time of its establishment to 193 battalions now.
Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, BSF Director General Daljit Singh Chowdhury and other dignitaries were present at the event.