PM Modi chairs high level meeting to with NSA Ajit Doval, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on counter-drone policy to tackle Jammu-like drone attacks

Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high level meeting on Tuesday to discuss the measures and strategies to counter "weaponised drones used for terror purposes against strategic and commercial assets".

The meeting was attended by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, among others.

The meeting took place two days after an armed drone attack on Sunday at Air Force Station Jammu, located 14 km from Indo-Pak border, in which two defence personnel received minor injuries.

On Monday, the army had said drones were spotted flying out over the Kaluchak-Ratnuchak military stations, according to Indian Express.

In the early hours of Tuesday, a number of drones were spotted again, but there was no official confirmation from the army.

“A major threat was thwarted by the alertness and proactive approach of troops. The security forces are on high alert and a search operation is in progress,’’ Army PRO Lt Colonel Devender Anand had said, Indian Express quoted.

"Across the North Western sector (Jammu & Kashmir and Punjab), regular deployment of a counter-drone system is needed. A comprehensive policy in national interest is being worked out," a senior official was quoted as saying by NDTV.

The government has decided that the Air Force would be the nodal agency to deal with such technology and National Technical Research Organisation, India's tech-intelligence agency will also be roped in for help, it informed.

"There is no universal policy to deal with rogue drones, so a combination of techniques needs to be used depending on the vitality of an asset," he explained, the NDTV report further quoted.

The deployment models will consist of primary and passive detection means, including radio frequency (RF) detectors, electro-optical and infrared cameras, radars, drone catching nets, GPS Spoofers, lasers, and soft and hard kill measures like RF Jammers, the report stated.

The Ministries of Civil Aviation and Home Affairs have also been asked to review existing regulations pertaining to Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS).

The Border Security Force is also in the process of acquiring a ground-based standalone platform capable of detecting lone, suspicious flying objects or groups of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and reacting quickly, according to the report.

Indian Army has already been given a go ahead to acquire artificial intelligence-equipped drones that can be deployed during such attacks.