Within 10 days of India celebrating two days Bharat Drone Mahotsav 2022 on May 27-28, the technical analysis of drones seized by Indian security forces have revealed an alarming trend of increasing security threat for the country. It seems that drones are being used in the smuggling of drugs and weapons from neighbouring countries into India. Though the present case already reported in media relates to Pakistan-supported terrorist activities, India needs to be extra alert on its entire border since several terrorists and anti-national, and criminal groups have been reportedly operating who can smuggle contrabands to destabilise our country. The lab that has technically analysed the flight path of the drones seized by the Border Security Force and Punjab Police has found that drones originated from India, were flown to Pakistan, loaded with drugs and weapons, and flown back into India. It shows that Pakistan-based terrorist organisations have deeper penetration in India, not only through border areas of Jammu and Kashmir but also in Punjab. It’s a matter of serious concern not only from the point of view of Islamic terrorism but also from the fear of a resurgence of Khalistani terrorism in Punjab.
When Prime Minister Narendra Modi was inaugurating the Bharat Drone Mahotsav 2022 in New Delhi on May 27, we did not have an idea of such a misuse of drones that may put Indian security at grave risk. During the festival, PM Modi also flew a drone made by Asteria Aerospace Limited, a Bengaluru-based drone technology company, which is meant to be used for security and surveillance across industry sectors. During the festival, over 70 exhibitors were displaying various use cases of drones. PM Modi had even interacted with Kisan drone pilots and enjoyed drone demonstrations. He called the Kisan drones a game-changer in Indian agriculture. Over 1,600 delegates comprising Government officials, foreign diplomats, armed forces, Central armed police forces, public sector undertakings, private companies, and drone startups participated in the festival. The reasons for the PM Modi’s too much enthusiasm are not difficult to understand. It was no other than himself who had intervened last year to get liberal rules for drones in the country claiming that it was to leverage India’s strengths in innovation, technology and engineering to make India a drone hub. That romantic idea immediately caught the imagination of the dreamers within and outside the Government, including the minister of Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia, who started propagating that the move will pave the way for air taxis soon in the Indian sky.
However, pursuing the romance of the drone, the Government perhaps forgot to thoroughly discuss the inherent dangers that put the Indian security at high risk which has been revealed by the technical analysis of the seized drones now. It was not that the Government or our security forces were unaware of the risks, but they just ignored them for the sake of fulfilling the dreams of our Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Central intelligence agencies had also intercepted such conversations of terrorists. The ‘trust in users’ logic is now proving dangerous for India’s security because no remote pilot license is required for micro drones for non-commercial use and nano drones. The liberal licensing and the lower maximum penalty for violation of rules have inherent risks to be misused by anti-social, criminal, or terrorist elements.
