Border Security Force

The Border Security Force (BSF) is responsible for guarding India's land borders during peacetime and preventing trans-border crimes. It is a central paramilitary force operating under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 demonstrated the inadequacies of the existing border management system and led to the formation of the Border Security Force as a unified central agency with the specific mandate of guarding India's international boundaries. The BSF's paramilitary capabilities were used in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 against Pakistani forces in areas where the Indian Armed Forces was thinly spread; BSF troops took part in the Battle of Longewala.

Although originally charged with guarding India's external boundaries, the BSF has more recently been given the task of aiding the Indian Army incounter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations. When the insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir broke out in 1989, the Jammu and Kashmir state police and the thinly-deployed Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) struggled to cope with the spiraling violence, and the Indian government deployed the BSF to Jammu and Kashmir to combat Islamic militants.