I am not for a second belittling the sheer magnanimity of the danger surrounding the Indo-Pak border.What I am saying however is that the border control mechanism has to evolve beyond the "shoot everything that moves" setting that has been prevalent since 1965.
The military oriented border arrangement is not "shoot everything that moves". Take a look at the picture I posted. This is a fenced border with a demarcated No Man's Land. If after initial warnings a possible perpetrator contunues to approach, I think it is eminently reasonable to expect that the guards would engage, especially in light of all we see coming from across the border.
Sure, we can have fancy stuff like tasers and water cannons and all that stuff but
1. SOPs for use of any such equipment would probably have to be discussed with the Pakistani counterparts, and they would have to be on board.
2. If we really had that money, I would use it for safety equipment and other items for our own troops
I don't mean this in a purely defensive context inspired by some misguided sense of tree hugging liberalism. Inflammatory border management (I made that phrase up, but you get the idea) is an art and science in itself that has critical security, financial, political and geopolitical consequences for a country like India. It behooves India to be creative and dynamic in dealing with these ground realities that affect it in real time by using the new wealth of resources it is acquiring.
Law and order aspects in addition to intelligence have to be integrated into the border management scheme which is at this point almost exclusively conventional military oriented. Not only will that reduce the number of accidental deaths but will also make India look more professional.
Regardless of any new found status that we may or may not have acquired, we still have a border in the context of which infiltration results in terrorism and not illegal immigrants trying to take away jobs. Our troops have every right to try and protect us. I believe the Pakistanis would have the exact same view about us, and it would be justified
I have no idea where you heard this but it is categorically wrong. The US border agencies aren't allowed to engage anyone one in combat unless they're fired upon first (which happens with drug smugglers). If caught, the trespassers are fed, clothed given medical attention and sent back to Mexico to try again until they get it right. There are no national security guard or other militarized agencies posted along the border which has created a lot of furor (but very little action) in the past few years. If anything the border security guards here need to take some lessons from India.
You are right about that. I heard of 2 BP agents convicted because they shot a fleeting perpetrator.
However, the US Mexican border is not the volatile nuclear flashpoint that the India-Pakistan border is (though with the rise in Mexican drug violence, maybe a bit more security is a good idea). A comparable analogy in that is the India Bangladesh border, where bangladeshi immigrants cross in for a better economic future (one reason why I understand America's pain ariuond the immigration issue).