Electronic surveillance system, other hi-tech measures to be deployed to safeguard borders: Amit Shah | India News

JAMMU/SRINAGAR: Govt is deploying an electronic surveillance system and using other technological initiatives to safeguard the country’s borders, Union home minister Amit Shah on Monday said while addressing troops at a Border Security Force (BSF) outpost in Jammu’s Kathua district.
Over 26 technological initiatives, including tunnel identification and anti-drone system, are currently being tested, he revealed, adding that two models of electronic surveillance systems have already been developed for deployment on the border. “After their installation across the entire border, soldiers will find it much easier to receive information and respond immediately to any actions by the enemy using technology,” Shah said.
Technology will also be used to identify and dismantle underground cross-border tunnels along the International Border, which terrorists are using to infiltrate into the Indian territory, he further said.
In a few years, security forces deployed along the entire India-Pakistan and India-Bangladesh borders will be fully equipped with technical assistance, he added.
The home minister, who is on a three-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir — his first to the UT after an elected govt assumed office in Oct last year — also met the families of slain policemen in Jammu and handed over appointment letters to 9 nominees on compassionate grounds. He urged J&K govt to take positive steps for compassionate appointment of 12-year-old Yuvraj Singh, son of selection grade constable Jaswant Singh who lost his life in the line of duty, when he attains adulthood.
Earlier in the day, Shah flew to BSF outpost ‘Vinay’ near the International Border in the Hiranagar sector of Kathua, where BSF director general Daljit Singh Chaudhary, J&K DGP Nalin Prabhat and other senior officers received him. The outpost is named after assistant commandant Vinay Prasad, who was hit by a sniper shot when he and his patrol party were out on a border domination exercise along the International Border on Jan 15, 2019.
Shah’s visit comes at a time when security forces have been engaged in an intensive operation in Kathua over the past fortnight against a group of terrorists that is believed to have recently infiltrated from across the border.
Shah also inaugurated newly built facilities at the border, including eight women barracks and high-mast lights.
Praising the border guarding force’s glorious history, he said: “The entire nation knows that the BSF is our first line of defence, and the force has always performed this responsibility exceptionally well… In every war with Pakistan, the contribution of our BSF soldiers has been as significant as that of the Army.”
On Monday evening, Shah, accompanied by LG Manoj Sinha, landed at the Srinagar airport, where CM Omar Abdullah received him. Shah visited the family of DSP Humayun Bhat, 32, one of four officers killed in an encounter with terrorists in south Kashmir’s Kokernag on Sept 13, 2023.
In view of Shah’s visit, tight security arrangements are in place across the Kashmir Valley. The home minister will chair a security review meeting on Tuesday morning at the Raj Bhawan, followed by another meeting on developmental projects.
Earlier, after arriving in Jammu on Sunday evening, Shah had held a nearly two-hour long meeting with BJP MLAs.