SAPI’s webinar on ‘Necessity for Effective Border Management’ a success

New Delhi: Delhi-based think tank Security and Policy Initiatives (SAPI) organized the second of its web series on Border management on August 09. The idea behind the webinar was to highlight the importance of the issue and sensitize stakeholders and Civil Societies toward the need for developing a cohesive, coordinated and technology-driven approach to Border Management.

Border disputes are often a source of political instability and military conflict around the world, both in the present day and throughout the history of civilization. However, more often than not, the importance of the subject is taken for granted and as a result, this remains a very understudied and under-researched area, more so in India as compared to the amount of attention it should get in view of two nuclear adversaries on Northern and Western Borders. The webinar was an attempt to show the light in the right direction.

Speaking on the Conundrums of Land Border Management, KK Sharma, Ex-DG BSF lauded the efforts of the government for infusing technology in BSF, and stressed the need to strengthen infrastructure, especially funding while involving the Border residents pro-actively. Former DG highlighted that due to strict action by BSF cattle smuggling has been reduced.

Sharma pointed out that the demographic profile in certain areas is being changed by design from across the border and facilitated by some state governments, thanks to the politics of the vote bank. It is pertinent to mention here that KK Sharma had been the pioneer in infusing Technology in Border Management, it was during his tenure the CIBMS and BOLD-QIT in Jammu and Dhubri, Assam respectively was installed on a Pilot basis. He also initiated the use of AI and data analysis in Intelligence and social media analysis.

Dhananjay Kamalakar, Ex ADGP Maharashtra said that India's coasts have always been vulnerable to criminals and anti-national activities. Numerous cases of the smuggling of goods, gold, narcotics, explosives, arms and ammunition as well as the infiltration of terrorists are there. Though the entrusted agencies are very efficiently doing their job of intricate coastal security, there often arise issues of coordination due to interactions of multiple agencies, sometimes with overlapping jurisdictions and delayed responses.

All the speakers including the Founders of SAPI, Pradeep Gupta, Dr Sangeeta Goel, Alok Tewari and Sarang Nerkar were unanimous in their views that given length, ethnic diversity, and geopolitical complexity, there is a need for investing in new technologies in tandem with evolving a unified approach by all involved agencies while taking care of local sensitivities.

The participants comprising of researchers, bureaucrats and ex-servicemen, and CEOs of tech start-ups among others, raised interesting questions ranging from ' What's the guarantee that 26/11 will not repeat,' to 'Should India not learn from China to negotiate and bartend some of its unmanned, hostile, inhabitable barren lands to buy peace and save huge money on its maintenance, year after year.'

Going by what Chanakya had said that 'Every neighbouring state is a potential enemy' and in India's case, we have half a dozen of the. While few of them like Sri Lanka, as of now, surely a matter of worry and concern for India.

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