Amit Shah begins border security tour
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday embarked on a multi-State tour of India’s sensitive border areas, starting from Bikaner, Rajasthan. The tour’s goal is to improve coordination between Central and State agencies as security challenges along the borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh evolve.
Shah’s visit follows his recent speech at the BSF Investiture Ceremony, where he announced plans for a Smart Border Project. This project aims to equip India’s roughly 6,000 kilometres of borders with advanced technologies, including drones, radars, cameras, and surveillance systems. The goal is to build an impenetrable security grid within a year.
On Tuesday, Shah will visit the BSF border outpost at Sanchu, near the India-Pakistan border in Bajju tehsil. In the afternoon, he will lead a high-level review meeting in Bikaner to assess security in border areas. Senior officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Rajasthan Government, BSF, and district leaders from Bikaner, Sri Ganganagar, Jaisalmer, Barmer, and Phalodi are expected to attend the meeting.
After Rajasthan, Shah will visit Bhuj, Gujarat, on May 29, where he will inspect a BSF border outpost and tour the Harami Nala area in the Rann of Kutch, near the India-Pakistan border. Harami Nala is known for its tough, marshy terrain and has a history of infiltration and smuggling, making it a high-priority security area.
Next month, the tour will move to India’s eastern borders. On June 5, Shah will visit border areas in Tripura to review security along the India-Bangladesh border.
Around June 15, the Home Minister will tour the border regions of West Bengal, another key state that shares a long border with Bangladesh. This visit is important after the recent formation of a BJP-led Government in the State.
Shah has said that BJP Governments in Assam, Tripura, and now West Bengal have implemented strong policies to secure these borders and prevent demographic changes driven by illegal migration.
A high-level meeting with the chief ministers of these states is also planned to strengthen security architecture across several states. Official sources say the tour aims to assess preparedness, interact with frontline personnel, and ensure seamless coordination among the BSF, state police, intelligence agencies, and district administrations.
The timing of the tour reflects growing attention to threats from the west, like drone smuggling and hybrid tactics from Pakistan, as well as concerns in the east, such as infiltration and smuggling along the Bangladesh border.
