The Border Security Force is planning to introduce an AI-powered “smart border observation and monitoring system” across the frontiers with Pakistan and Bangladesh to crack down on smuggling, infiltration and drone incursions, sources in the BSF said.
The proposed “unified AI platform”, the sources said, is aimed at securing borders with automated and real-time intelligence while reducing reliance on human-intensive monitoring. The system will also offer real-time insights and predict smuggling hotspots and infiltration routes for better resource allocation, operational planning and execution.
“This advanced technology will improve the BSF’s capabilities by assimilating live video streams directly from CCTV cameras, which will be processed on a video analytics server. The real-time surveillance using an AI-enabled system will help in the immediate analysis of the smuggling hotspots and potential infiltration routes and help commanders in decision-making,” said a BSF official.
This automated approach is likely to reduce human-intensive monitoring, allowing personnel to focus on operational duties rather than constantly monitoring live CCTV footage on screen. “The AI-enabled system will automatically detect intrusion and generate real-time alerts if a camera view is obstructed or blurred,” the official said.
The BSF is tasked with guarding the 2,290km India-Pakistan border, apart from the Line of Control under the army’s operational command, and the 4,096km front with Bangladesh on the eastern side.
The BSF has also launched a project called Electronic Surveillance of Vulnerable Patches. As many as 635 vulnerable patches, covering 484km of the India-Pakistan and India-Bangladesh borders, have been identified, which include riverine stretches and are unfenced.
Last year, the BSF had set up a drone warfare school at its Tekanpur training academy in Madhya Pradesh to train its commandos in modern combat methods, particularly those emerging in the wake of Operation Sindoor.
The school provides special training to troops through five special courses that include unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) operations, anti-drone warfare, and surveillance and intelligence gathering.
The school has simulators and live drone flying zones, facilities for payload integration in the UAVs and night operations, tools for radio frequency jammers and kinetic interceptors, apart from linked hardware and artificial intelligence (AI) tools.
Sources said drones from across the Pakistan border had become a major carrier of narcotics and ammunition for operatives working with Pakistan-based terrorist groups. Over the past few years, the BSF has seized several drone consignments of arms, ammunition and narcotics, which are run by terror operatives across the border.
According to an analysis of data of drones intercepted by the BSF, nearly 80 per cent of UAVs that flew in from across the border in the last four and a half years took off from Pakistan’s Punjab province and landed in Amritsar.
Data compiled by the BSF show that the menace of unmanned aerial vehicles has become serious over the past few years along the frontier. The force had shot down one drone in 2020, 22 in 2022, and 120 in 2023, while the number shot up to over 300 in 2024. In January 2025, the force had intercepted 63 drones, which were sent for forensic analysis.