Smart border project along Pakistan and Bangladesh frontiers to curb infiltration, says Amit Shah

New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced on Friday, May 22, that the government will launch a comprehensive "smart border" project next year designed to make India's 6,000-kilometre frontier with Pakistan and Bangladesh completely impenetrable. Speaking in the capital, the minister stated that the initiative aims to defeat what he described as a conspiracy to alter the demographic balance of India's border regions.

Delivering the annual Rustamji Memorial lecture hosted by the Border Security Force (BSF), Shah reiterated the government's firm stance on illegal immigration, asserting that authorities would identify every infiltrator within the country and deport them. The annual lecture honours K.F. Rustamji, who served as the founding director general of the BSF following its establishment in 1965.

Assuring the BSF troops in attendance, the home minister noted that the rollout of the smart border project would coincide with the 60th anniversary of the force's raising. He explained that the Modi administration has committed to establishing a robust security grid along both the eastern and western fronts over the coming year. This modernized frontier system will heavily leverage advanced technology, integrating drones, radar networks, and smart cameras to create an airtight security barrier.

Furthermore, Shah called upon BSF personnel to remain vigilant against attempts to artificially shift local demographics through illegal crossings. He highlighted that the current state governments in Tripura, West Bengal, and Assam—all presently led by the Bharatiya Janata Party—share the central government's zero-tolerance policy toward cross-border infiltration.

To streamline these security efforts, the Home Ministry plans to convene a high-level meeting with the chief ministers of the respective border states in the near future. Shah also disclosed that the Union government will soon formally announce the details of a previously declared, high-powered demography mission dedicated to monitoring and protecting the population balance in sensitive border districts.

(Inputs from PTI)