Rs 31,000 crore India-Myanmar border fencing project among measures to strengthen national security
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said India’s border security system, based on the vision of a “Smart Border”, will become the most modern in the world in the coming years, while asserting that the government is moving from a reactive approach to a proactive strategy to secure the country’s frontiers.
Addressing the Land Border Districts’ Superintendents of Police Conference-2026 in New Delhi, Shah said the conference has institutionalised a comprehensive approach towards border security and will focus on identifying challenges, addressing concerns and formulating appropriate policy measures.
Union Ministers of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai and Bandi Sanjay Kumar, Union Home Secretary, Director of the Intelligence Bureau, Directors General of Police of border states and senior officials were present at the conference.
Four-way security grid for border management
Shah said the government is building a strong quadrangular security grid by integrating border guarding forces, state and district administrations, relevant stakeholders of the Government of India and local citizens.
“A secure border, prosperous border region, and a vigilant society together can make the country secure,” he said.
He added that the government is moving away from an isolated border outpost-based system towards an integrated security grid to make border security impenetrable.
Focus on infiltration, narcotics and organised crime
The Home Minister said the government is creating a robust mechanism to make the country completely infiltration-free and prevent infiltration attempts in the future.
He said the government’s objectives include preventing proxy war, illegal infiltration, radicalisation, narcotics trafficking, smuggling, drone-related threats, cybercrime, organised crime and abnormal demographic changes.
Shah said the country has been freed from Naxalism and terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir and the North-East under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, describing it as a collective success.
He further said that in the next three years, the government would inflict serious damage on the narcotics menace and achieve victory over it.
“Earlier, problems used to be permanent and solutions temporary. In the Modi government, we are striking at the roots of the problems and making the solutions permanent,” Shah said.
India-Myanmar border fencing underway
Shah said the government is fencing the 1,610-km-long India-Myanmar border at a cost of Rs 31,000 crore as part of efforts to strengthen border security.
He said the government has increased investment in border infrastructure by 400 percent and is adopting a scientific approach towards improving border management.
Demography Mission to study border changes
The Home Minister said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched the Demography Mission to study demographic changes, identify abnormal factors contributing to demographic growth and recommend measures to prevent such changes in the future.
He said illegal infiltration is the primary cause of demographic changes in border areas and emphasised that information related to such changes must reach the highest level from the grassroots at the earliest.
Shah said the government is committed to curbing unnatural demographic growth caused by abnormal factors with a “ruthless approach”.
Vibrant Villages Programme to prevent migration
Highlighting the importance of border villages, Shah said Prime Minister Modi has described the country’s last village as its first village under the Vibrant Villages Programme.
He said the initiative aims to prevent migration, generate employment opportunities and ensure 100 percent implementation of government welfare schemes in border areas.
Shah also said that in the coming years, the government would adopt a holistic approach towards strengthening coastal border security.
