Analysis: Punjab at Crossroads, Challenges faced by Border State.

Punjab occupies a uniquely sensitive position in India’s federal and security architecture. As a frontline border state sharing over 530 km of international boundary with Pakistan, Punjab simultaneously carries the responsibilities of national security, food security, and social stability. Over the past few years—and more sharply in the recent period—the state has been confronting a complex convergence of security threats, economic stress, social challenges, and governance pressures, many of which are interlinked.

Punjab’s image today is far tenser and more negative than the everyday reality on the ground, and that distortion is hurting both its people and its economy. The suffering of Punjabis worldwide is driven not only by local challenges but also by weak political representation and misleading narratives amplified on social media. Punjab is more than the clichés of agriculture and drugs; it has deep human capital, entrepreneurship and a legacy of having once been among India’s most prosperous regions due to the Green Revolution and high agricultural productivity. The state’s drug problem is heavily shaped by its location next to the “Golden Crescent” and its long border with Pakistan, which makes it a major transit and smuggling route rather than a uniquely “druggie” society, yet the label unfairly sticks and becomes the first association many people make when Punjab is mentioned. This persistent stereotyping discourages industry, deters investors and overshadows the many Punjabis engaged in legitimate professions within India and across the world. As a border state repeatedly targeted by cross‑border smuggling and hostile intelligence efforts, Punjab faces security pressures that further complicate development and investor confidence. Once a leading state in India’s growth story, it has since witnessed large-scale youth migration to NCR, Bengaluru and abroad, including Canada and the UK, reflecting both the talent of its people and the lack of sufficient local opportunities. Going forward, Punjab needs stronger and fairer representation in the national conversation, significant public and private investment, and policy support that recognises both its border vulnerabilities and its substantial untapped potential.

Punjab’s international border, spread across districts such as Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Gurdaspur, Ferozepur and Fazilka, is largely flat and agrarian, making it difficult to monitor continuously despite fencing and surveillance. This geography has historically been exploited by hostile actors. While the era of large-scale militancy of the 1980s and 1990s has passed, security agencies repeatedly caution that Punjab remains a high-priority target for proxy destabilisation strategies. Intelligence inputs indicate persistent efforts by Pakistan-based handlers to revive sleeper cells, exploit local grievances, and destabilise internal security through low-intensity but high-impact tactics.

Recent disclosures by Punjab Police underline the seriousness of the threat. In a single year, 19 terror modules with direct or indirect Pakistan-based linkages were dismantled, preventing targeted attacks on police installations, public places, and political figures. Seizures included automatic pistols, explosives, IED components, and encrypted communication devices, indicating operational intent rather than mere ideological posturing. Importantly, many of these modules relied on local recruits guided remotely, reflecting a shift from mass mobilisation to precision-based radicalisation.

The persistence of such modules demonstrates that Punjab continues to be viewed by hostile agencies as a soft entry point into India’s internal security landscape, owing to its border access, diaspora connections, and historical memory of militancy.

One of the most serious emerging challenges for Punjab is the use of drones for cross-border smuggling. Unlike earlier infiltration routes, drones allow adversaries to bypass fencing and patrols altogether. Security agencies have recorded repeated drone drops carrying heroin consignments, pistols, ammunition, and cash, often retrieved by local criminal networks within minutes of landing. The introduction of anti-drone systems along the border reflects official recognition that Punjab’s threat environment has technologically evolved, requiring constant upgradation of counter-measures.

This drone-based logistics chain has also strengthened the criminal-terror nexus, blurring the line between organised crime and ideological terrorism.

Punjab’s long-standing drug crisis is no longer viewed solely as a public health or law-and-order issue; it is increasingly recognised as a national security concern. Large quantities of heroin trafficked across the border are not only devastating local communities but also financing organised crime and terror networks. Statewide operations under campaigns such as Yudh Nashian Virudh have led to hundreds of arrests and major seizures, yet the persistence of trafficking routes highlights the structural depth of the problem.

The overlap between drug money, gang violence, and cross-border handlers has created a vicious cycle: narcotics fuel addiction and crime, crime finances weapons procurement, and weapons sustain instability. Punjab’s youth, particularly in border districts, remain the most vulnerable casualties of this ecosystem.

Alongside external threats, Punjab faces a significant internal security challenge from organised gangs, some of which maintain links with overseas operatives. Law enforcement assessments indicate that several gangs rely on foreign-based coordination for funding, arms procurement, and contract killings. This has resulted in targeted violence, extortion networks, and public fear, particularly in urban centres. The state’s anti-gangster operations have neutralised key figures, but the continued emergence of new operatives reflects socio-economic undercurrents that enforcement alone cannot resolve.

Punjab’s border population lives under constant uncertainty. Periodic high-alert situations have led to cancellation of public events, movement restrictions, and advisory-led relocations of villagers during tense periods. Even in the absence of direct conflict, the psychological impact of living in a high-security zone—amid drone sightings, seizures, and security drills—has social and economic consequences that are often under-acknowledged in policy debates.

Beyond security, Punjab faces deep economic challenges. Once India’s agricultural powerhouse, the state now grapples with stagnant growth, declining groundwater levels, rising input costs, and limited crop diversification. Agriculture remains heavily dependent on a wheat-paddy cycle that is environmentally unsustainable. Industrial growth has not kept pace with population aspirations, resulting in unemployment pressures that indirectly feed crime, migration, and social disaffection.

Frequent protests, while democratic in nature, also disrupt logistics and investor confidence, compounding economic stress.

Punjab records one of the highest road accident fatality rates, with reports indicating an average of over a dozen deaths daily, often linked to poor emergency response and infrastructure gaps. Floods in recent years have damaged farmland, villages, and even border fencing, highlighting the intersection between climate vulnerability and security preparedness. Such disasters divert administrative focus and resources from long-term structural reform.

Punjab’s deeply religious and culturally conscious society requires careful governance to preserve harmony. Periodic controversies over religious symbolism, speech, or political messaging risk polarisation, which hostile actors may attempt to exploit. Maintaining social cohesion remains as crucial to security as policing or intelligence operations.

Punjab’s challenges cannot be understood in isolation. Cross-border terrorism, narco-economics, gangsterism, youth vulnerability, agrarian distress, and governance capacity form a tightly interwoven matrix. Data on terror modules dismantled, drone interceptions, drug seizures, and crime patterns clearly indicates that Punjab remains a strategic pressure point in India’s internal security landscape.

The response, therefore, must be equally multi-layered: combining robust border management, advanced technology, economic diversification, youth engagement, social rehabilitation, and institutional reform. Punjab’s resilience has been tested before, and history shows it can recover. The present moment, however, demands coordinated national attention, recognising that Punjab’s stability is inseparable from India’s overall security and social fabric.

By: Ashutosh Garg (Policy, tech and international relations enthusiast)

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