Drones after dusk: Is this the ‘new normal’ on India’s western front?

On the morning of May 10, Punjab’s Ferozepur town was on edge as India and Pakistan clashed in the skies above.

The international border was merely 10 km away, and the previous night, despite a blackout, a Pakistani drone had injured three in a nearby village.

The mood eased around 5 pm, when US President Donald Trump announced that India and Pakistan would stop all military activities as part of a ceasefire.

But reports soon emerged of cross-border shelling and Pakistani drones being spotted in Jammu and Kashmir.

By 8.45 pm, the blackout was back in Ferozepur. On the terrace of a hotel, television crews stared into the night sky, expecting drones to appear any moment. When the air raid sirens went off at 10 pm, their cameras were rolling in anticipation.

But then, all of a sudden, the street lights were switched back on. Many wondered if the authorities had made a mistake: was the town safe?

This confusion was not limited to Ferozepur. Across the length of India’s border with Pakistan as well as the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir, drone activity was reported for three consecutive nights.

The first night, the Indian government confirmed there had been ceasefire violations by Pakistan– presumably a reference to the drones. Scroll asked the...

Read more

News