On May 4, 2023, the Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, said that technological solutions were being tested for countering the incoming drones and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles used to smuggle arms, ammunition and medicines from Pakistan.
In an interview with Hindustan Times, Amit Shah explained that there is no doubt that unmanned platforms such as drones are used for smuggling.
However, he said, “We have four types of anti-drone technologies in Punjab and Jammu border areas. This is being done on an experimental basis, and six months and three meetings later, we are still studying the changes that are need to be made.”
According to the Home Minister, the agencies do not have a cent per cent specific solution to counter the drone menace. But he hoped a system would be in place as soon as possible.
“We are continuously fighting. On the ground level, we have increased our intelligence gathering. We are catching those receiving illegal cache and have felled many drones. In the past three months alone, the percentage of drones rose to 422%. This is a big achievement.”
Since 2019, drones have been used to smuggle drugs and weapons, and the security forces have shot down 22 unmanned aerial vehicles that entered Indian territory from Pakistan last year.
Weapons brought to India via drones were used in April 20, 2023, attack on an army truck in Jammu and Kashmir’s Mendhar, leaving five Indian Army personnel martyred.
