According to BSF’s annual data for the period between November 1, 2024, and October 31, 2025, there were at least 1,816 drone sightings along the Indo-Pak border and 136 along the Indo-Bangladesh border in the past year. The 1,952 drone sightings in the eastern and western theaters include reports of the same drones being observed at several border locations and reported by border guards.
Drones have been used by Pakistani drug and weapons traffickers to transport drugs, weapons, and ammunition into India since 2019. Most of these drone incursions have been documented in Punjab near the Indo-Pak border. Nearly 255 drones have been shot down in the state by the BSF’s Punjab division this year. An anti-drone system has been put in place to counteract rogue drones, according to a BSF official who shared details of the efforts made to stop smugglers at the Indo-Pak border.
The technology uses spoofing, jamming, and cyber takeover techniques to identify rogue drones and stop them. There are currently 23 anti-rogue drone devices in place along the western border, and they have shown great efficacy. Additionally, 100 ultra-light thermal imagers have been placed on the western border by the BSF. These small, light devices are capable of identifying targets in complete darkness, smoke, and fog without the need for any kind of active illumination.
They can be used as handheld devices or as weapon-mounted sights. In recent years, there has been an uptick in the smuggling of weapons and drugs from Pakistan via drones. Midway through 2019, the first such instance was found in Punjab near the Indo-Pak border. There were two cases in 2019, none in 2020, and just one in 2021. The troops have shot down 255 Chinese-made drones this year, primarily DJI Matrice and DJI Mavic models.
Records reveal that drones are used to transport weapons from Pakistan, including Chinese handguns and AK-series rifles. Security officials in Jammu have been routinely reporting drone sightings from across the border, although cases were first limited to the Indo-Pak border in Punjab. Drone-smuggled weaponry have been connected to incidents like the murder of Punjabi musician Sidhu Moosewala in recent years.
In a same vein, local handlers participating in the rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) attacks on the Sarhali police station in August 2023 and the Punjab Police intelligence wing headquarters in Mohali in May 2022 received ammo from drones.
