- 1 hour ago
India's eastern border in West Bengal is witnessing a massive crackdown on illegal infiltration through a campaign focused on detecting and deporting undocumented migrants.
Category
đź—ž
NewsTranscript
00:07Hello and welcome. You're watching Statecraft with me, Geeta Mohan.
00:11Now, can a nation secure its borders when illegal networks operate through forged identities and invisible crossings?
00:18And while governments tighten surveillance and migration controls, is nature itself becoming the biggest security threat of all?
00:25Tonight, two stories shaped by pressure. One from India's eastern border, where West Bengal has become the center of a
00:33major crackdown on illegal infiltration under one message.
00:37Detect, delete, deport. And how does that impact people living in West Bengal through generations?
00:45The other from across India's skies, where a brutal heat wave is turning cities into furnaces and pushing infrastructure, health
00:53systems and human survival to the edge.
00:56One crisis is man-made, the other is climate-driven. Both reveal the same reality.
01:02The world is becoming harsher, more unstable and far more difficult to manage.
01:08All that and more, but first up, the headlines.
01:12Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli troops have pushed beyond the Litani River in southern Lebanon.
01:19Netanyahu also said Israeli troops are operating in Beirut, the Bekar Valley and across the entire front.
01:26NATO and the EU hit out at Russia after a drone crashed into a Romanian apartment block, injuring two people.
01:33Romanian officials say they have confirmation it is a Russian drone, though Moscow has not responded to these claims.
01:41However, Romanian president said he will expel the Russian consul in the southeastern city of Konstanta.
01:48Pakistan Foreign Minister Ishak Dar is in Washington and will hold talks with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
01:55The visit takes place amid Islamabad's diplomatic efforts to negotiate a long-term peace arrangement aimed at ending the ongoing
02:03U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran.
02:06A Kenyan court has suspended a plan to establish an Ebola quarantine facility for United States nationals exposed to the
02:14virus following a backlash from health workers and rights activists.
02:19A high court judge ordered a halt to the agreement on the facility.
02:23The case will be heard next week.
02:27Amidst strikes on Iran's missile launch sites and Bandar Abbas port and counter-strikes on U.S. base,
02:33White House sources have confirmed that the U.S. and Iran have reached an agreement on a memorandum of understanding
02:40to extend the ceasefire for 60 days to allow for formal negotiations on Tehran's nuclear program.
02:46But this agreement has not yet received President Trump's approval stamp.
02:50According to Iranian media, the text of the MOU had not yet been finalized or confirmed.
02:56U.S. officials say the tentative agreement aims at opening the Strait of Hormuz and starting the next process talks
03:03on nuclear weapons.
03:04U.S. President J.D. Vance said,
03:06A couple of language points are still under discussion, but the sides are making progress in peace talks.
03:14However, Iran's top negotiator, Mohammed Galibaf, said, and I quote,
03:18We have no trust in guarantees or words.
03:21Only actions are the measure.
03:24I will say, and this is my last comment on this, if you look at what we've already accomplished here,
03:29assuming that we're able to get to a final agreement here, we're reopening the Strait of Hormuz,
03:34we've already decimated their conventional military, and we're in a position where we can substantially step back their nuclear program,
03:41not just during the term of this president, but over the long term.
03:44That's a very, very good thing for the American people.
03:47So we're not there yet, but we're very close to when we keep on working at it.
03:50Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, that's IRGC Navy, said it had fired warning shots at four vessels near the Strait
03:58of Hormuz
03:58as they were reportedly trying to pass through the waterway without prior coordination or authorization.
04:05The four ships were forced to return after being warned by the Iranian side.
04:10U.S. Treasury Department said the Persian Gulf Strait Authority and Iranian authority overseeing shipping control in the strait
04:17has been added to the specially designated nationals list in a fresh sanction move under the U.S. economic fury
04:24campaign.
04:25Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Scott Besant told reporters he spoke with Oman's ambassador,
04:31and Oman has assured the United States there are no plans to toll the Strait of Hormuz.
04:37Talks between Tehran and Muscat were reported wherein both the countries were trying to figure out a system
04:42under which a toll could be charged from vessels crossing through the strait.
04:48President Trump said, Oman will behave just like everybody else, or we will have to blow them up.
04:54Are you guys back there in the West Wing making plans for a new war with Oman?
04:59Again, I think the President wanted to punctuate freedom of navigation in the strait.
05:05I had a call with the Omani ambassador this morning, and he assured me that there were no plans for
05:12tolling the strait.
05:13As he said, our countries have had 200 years of good relations.
05:16He wants to have another 200 more.
05:31Earlier, the IRGC carried out strikes targeting a U.S. airbase in response to earlier U.S. attacks
05:38against the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas.
05:43IRGC said in a statement that a U.S. airbase was targeted after what it described as a U.S.
05:50attack
05:50using aerial projectiles on an area near Bandar Abbas airport.
05:54Three explosions were heard east of Bandar Abbas on the Strait of Hormuz.
05:59Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hexth arrived in Singapore
06:03ahead of this week's Shangri-La Dialogue Security Forum.
06:07Hexth is the headline speaker at the forum.
06:09Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun will skip this week's event after Beijing said
06:15it is sending a delegation of experts and scholars from the People's Liberation Army
06:20to the Security Forum.
06:22China will be represented by officials from PLA-run research institutes and the Navy.
06:28India's eastern border is once again under intense scrutiny.
06:31But this time, the focus is not just infiltration.
06:34It is on something much larger.
06:36A full-spectrum security operation that authorities describe with three words – detect, delete, deport.
06:43From document verification drives to border surveillance crackdowns,
06:47the state of West Bengal is becoming the centre of one of India's most aggressive campaigns
06:53against illegal immigration in recent years.
06:56And the pressure is now so intense that hundreds are attempting to flee back across the border
07:01into Bangladesh before authorities reach them.
07:05The operation comes amid growing concerns inside India over undocumented migration network operating
07:12across the porous Indo-Bangladesh border.
07:15Security agencies have long warned that illegal entry routes stretching through West Bengal and Assam
07:21are not merely demographic issues.
07:23They are also deeply tied to organized document fraud, human trafficking, cross-border smuggling,
07:31and in some cases, potential national security vulnerabilities.
07:35Now, with intensified verification drives underway,
07:38authorities are moving from passive monitoring to active enforcement.
07:42And the timing is critical because India's border security debate is no longer confined to local politics.
07:48Around the world, governments are hardening immigration systems,
07:52tightening identity verification, and strengthening internal security screening.
07:57From Europe's migration crisis to America's southern border debate,
08:01illegal migration has become one of the defining political and security questions of the decade.
08:07India is now confronting its own version of that challenge along one of the most densely populated borders on Earth.
08:14The India-Bangladesh border stretches more than 4,000 kilometers.
08:19Rivers, villages, agricultural land, dense population clusters.
08:24In several sectors, homes, farms, and local communities exist only meters apart from across the international boundary.
08:33That geography has historically made infiltration difficult to fully prevent.
08:38Security officials say forged Aadhaar cards, fake ration cards, and fraudulent voter identification documents
08:46have often enabled undocumented entrants to disappear into the system after crossing over.
08:54Which is why the latest campaign is focused not just on the border itself,
08:59but on identity infrastructure inside the state.
09:09According to reports, investigators are now tracing suspected networks involved in producing forged documents
09:16that allegedly helped illegal entrants obtain access to welfare systems, housing, employment, and political patronage structures.
09:25And that is where the operation becomes politically explosive,
09:29because in West Bengal, illegal immigration has long been one of the state's most polarizing and sensitive issues.
09:37In the past, opposition leaders back then repeatedly accused regional political structures
09:43of enabling vote-bank-driven protection networks.
09:47The then-state government rejected those accusations, but security debate has continued to intensify
09:53as demographic anxieties, border incidents, and intelligence inputs accumulate over time.
10:00Now, the rhetoric is becoming sharper.
10:02Senior political leaders aligned with the crackdown argue that undocumented migration
10:07is altering local demographics, straining welfare systems, and creating long-term security concerns.
10:13Critics, meanwhile, warn about the dangers of communal profiling, wrongful identification,
10:20and politically motivated targeting.
10:22That tension is turning the border issue into a national flashpoint.
10:28But beyond politics lies a harder strategic reality.
10:32Border security today is no longer just about fences and patrols.
10:36It is about databases, biometrics, surveillance systems, financial trails,
10:42telecommunications mapping, and digital identity verification.
10:47Modern migration enforcement increasingly operates through data ecosystems as much as physical barriers.
10:54India's eastern border management strategy is now moving rapidly in that direction.
10:59But the crackdown is also exposing an uncomfortable human reality that goes far beyond border enforcement statistics.
11:07Among those now facing detention or deportation are Bengali-speaking Muslim families
11:13who have lived inside India for generations, in some cases, for over four generations,
11:18with children and grandchildren born entirely on Indian soil.
11:22Many have no remaining social, economic, or even linguistic roots in present-day Bangladesh.
11:28For younger generations, return is not truly a return at all.
11:33It means displacement into a country they have never lived in,
11:37often without property, community ties, or documentation networks there.
11:42That complexity is making citizenship verification far more contentious
11:47because authorities are not only confronting recent illegal infiltration,
11:52but also decades of undocumented settlement, blurred identities,
11:57and families whose lived reality no longer fits neatly into administrative categories created by borders drawn generations ago.
12:07That concern has only grown in an era of geopolitical instability.
12:12Bangladesh itself has experienced periods of political turbulence, economic stress,
12:17and rising Islamist mobilization pressures in recent years.
12:21Any instability in neighboring regions inevitably creates spillover anxieties for India's border states.
12:28New Delhi therefore increasingly views migration control not only as a domestic governance issue,
12:33but also as part of broader regional stability management.
12:38But operations like these also carry enormous legal and humanitarian sensitivities.
12:44Determining citizenship in densely populated border regions is extraordinarily complex.
12:50Families often span both sides of the border.
12:53Documentation gaps remain common among poor rural populations.
12:58Human rights groups have repeatedly warned that verification drives must avoid wrongful detention,
13:04statelessness risks, and administrative overreach.
13:08For Bangladesh, the situation is equally delicate.
13:12Dhaka has historically rejected large-scale allegations of illegal out-migration into India.
13:17But any intensified deportation process or sudden cross-border movement risks creating diplomatic friction between the two neighbors.
13:26The new government in Dhaka, led by Tariq Rahman, is already inching closer to Pakistan and China.
13:31A friction at this point would only speed the process.
13:35And this is why the Bengal border crackdown matters far beyond one Indian state.
13:41It represents a purview of how governments in the 21st century are approaching migration control,
13:48data-driven enforcement, internal identity audits, surveillance-backed border security,
13:54aggressive documentation verification,
13:57and increasingly politicized debates over citizenship and national belonging.
14:02But nations are becoming more security conscious.
14:06Identity systems are becoming more intrusive.
14:08Migration debates are becoming more combustible.
14:11And along India's eastern frontier, those global trends are now colliding in real time.
14:17The operation in Bengal is no longer just a state-level crackdown.
14:21It is part of a much larger shift towards surveillance-driven border management,
14:26biometric verification, and aggressive citizenship enforcement in an era
14:31where governments increasingly view undocumented migration through the lens of national security.
14:38For Indian authorities, the message is clear.
14:40The era of unchecked infiltration, forged identities, and invisible cross-border movement
14:45is coming under unprecedented scrutiny.
14:48But the deeper human question now emerging is far more complicated
14:52because among those being identified are families who have lived in India for generations,
14:58people whose children and grandchildren were born here, raised here, and built their lives here,
15:04yet who may now face the prospect of being pushed toward a country they no longer know
15:10and in some cases never truly belonged to at all.
15:17In a face-off between Chinese and the Dutch Navy in the South China Sea,
15:21Chinese military said it drove away Dutch frigate De Reuter,
15:25which it accused of illegally intruding into the Paracel Islands.
15:30A Chinese military spokesperson condemned the provocative acts by the Dutch Navy vessel,
15:35urging the Dutch side to immediately stop its violations and provocations.
15:39According to the official, the Dutch vessel De Reuter illegally trespassed into China's Shisha Chundao
15:47in the South China Sea and conducted multiple ship-borne helicopter operations
15:52violating China's territorial airspace.
15:55In response, the PLA Southern Theater Command organized maritime and air forces
16:00to take necessary measures in accordance with laws and regulations
16:05to expel and drive away the trespassing vessel.
16:08Chinese officials said the actions by the Dutch side have seriously violated China's territorial sovereignty
16:15and maritime and air security, gravely breached international law
16:20and basic norms of international relations, severely undermined peace and stability in the South China Sea,
16:27and could easily lead to miscalculations and misjudgments.
16:31However, troops of the PLA Southern Theater Command remain on high alert.
16:39Myanmar's junta chief, Min Ong Liang, has chosen India, not China,
16:44for his first foreign visit since taking power.
16:47The move highlights Myanmar's growing strategic importance between South and Southeast Asia.
16:52While China sees Myanmar as a gateway to the Indian Ocean,
16:55India views it as central to its act, East and regional connectivity ambitions.
17:00But can New Delhi convert this diplomatic moment into lasting strategic influence?
17:06Here's a report by Harsh Mishra.
17:16Myanmar's President, Min Ong Lang, is visiting India,
17:19and after coming to power, it is his first visit to any foreign nation.
17:25Lang's visit to India is much more than a routine diplomatic engagement.
17:28Min Ong Lang first came to power after orchestrating the 2021 military coup
17:34that removed the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
17:38Following years of military rule, elections were held between December 2025 and January 2026,
17:46a process criticised by the opponents.
17:49In April 2026, he formally became president after a parliamentary vote
17:54consolidating his hold over Myanmar's political system.
17:58For years after the coup, Myanmar faced international criticism and growing isolation.
18:04During this period, China emerged as the country's most important strategic partner.
18:10Beijing openly backed Myanmar's leadership,
18:12supported major infrastructure projects,
18:15strengthened economic cooperation,
18:16and pushed forward the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor.
18:20Myanmar is exceptionally important for China
18:23because it provides direct access to the Indian Ocean.
18:26Through pipelines, ports and planned transport corridors,
18:30Beijing can bypass the Strait of Malacca
18:32and secure critical energy and trade routes.
18:35Chinese leaders have repeatedly emphasised deeper cooperation
18:39with Myanmar in energy, infrastructure, trade, and border security.
18:44Yet despite those close ties,
18:47Min Ong Lang's first foreign visit as president is to India.
18:51That decision highlights Myanmar's desire to maintain strategic balance
18:55while expanding the engagement beyond Beijing.
18:59For India, Myanmar occupies a unique position.
19:02It is the only ASEAN country sharing a land border with India
19:05and serves as a gateway connecting South Asia with Southeast Asia.
19:10Myanmar lies at the heart of India's neighbourhood first,
19:13ACT-East, and Mahasagar policies.
19:16During the visit, discussions are expected to focus on connectivity,
19:20projects, trade, infrastructure, border management,
19:24arms smuggling, narcotics trafficking,
19:27and scam centres operating inside Myanmar.
19:30The India-Myanmar Thailand trilateral highway project
19:33stalled due to Myanmar's internal conflict,
19:36is also expected to be discussed.
19:39The visit includes stops in Bodh Gaya, New Delhi, and Mumbai,
19:44reflecting both the civilisational and economic dimensions of the relationship.
19:50Alongside meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi,
19:52Min Ong Lang will participate in the business forum
19:55and interact with industry leaders.
19:57The visit, however, remains controversial.
20:00Myanmar's national unity government
20:01and opposition groups have criticised India
20:04for engaging with a leader they consider illegitimate
20:07and have announced protests during the visit.
20:09Even so, the significance of the trip is clear.
20:13As competition intensifies across the Indo-Pacific,
20:17Myanmar's location between India, China, and Southeast Asia
20:20makes it one of Asia's most strategically important states.
20:24This visit could become a defining moment
20:26in shaping the future balance of influence in the very region.
20:31With Harsh Mishra, Bureau Report, India Today Global.
20:56In late April and May,
20:5998 of the world's 100 hottest cities sat inside India's borders.
21:04Not 10, not 50, 98.
21:08India did not just top the chart.
21:10India was the chart.
21:12And just when you think this is a South Asia problem,
21:16France starts reporting deaths,
21:18London logs a tropical night,
21:20and Scotland catches fire.
21:21So what on earth is going on?
21:24Let's start with why.
21:25Why is it this bad,
21:28this early,
21:29and this relentless?
21:30The answer is high-pressure weather systems,
21:33and they work exactly like a lid on a boiling pot.
21:37When these systems park themselves over a region,
21:40they block cloud formation,
21:42kill any chance of rain,
21:44and trap hot air near the surface.
21:47The heat just builds.
21:48Day after day.
21:50No escape.
21:51This year,
21:52these systems sat over India and Pakistan
21:55like uninvited guests
21:56who absolutely refuse to leave.
21:59And then climate change walks in and makes it worse.
22:02The April heat wave alone was made three times more likely
22:05and about one degree hotter because of climate change.
22:09At current warming levels of around 1.4 degrees Celsius,
22:13events like this hit South Asia roughly once every five years.
22:17The world tracks toward 2.6 degrees Celsius by 2100,
22:23at which point this becomes a once every two to three year event,
22:28running 2.2 degrees Celsius hotter.
22:31So, no, this is not a fluke.
22:34This is a preview.
22:36Now, does heat just mean discomfort?
22:40Sunburn and sweat and bad moods?
22:42No.
22:43Heat kills.
22:45The heat wave claimed at least 37 lives in India and 10 in Pakistan,
22:50and those are the reported numbers.
22:53Heat deaths get undercounted massively.
22:56The real toll is much higher.
22:59Here is how it happens.
23:00The body sweats to cool itself down.
23:03Sweating works by evaporating moisture off the skin
23:06and carrying heat away.
23:08Simple, elegant, effective,
23:11until humidity arrives and ruins everything.
23:15Humid air already holds moisture.
23:17It has no room for more.
23:18So, sweat does not evaporate.
23:20The body keeps heating.
23:22Core temperature climbs past 40 degrees Celsius.
23:24Heat stroke sets in.
23:26Brain damage.
23:28Organ failure.
23:29Death.
23:30This is why scientists now talk about lethal humidity,
23:34the point where heat and moisture together cross a threshold
23:38the human body cannot simply survive.
23:41For older people outdoors,
23:4335 degrees Celsius with 90% humidity is as deadly
23:47as 45 degrees Celsius with 30% humidity.
23:51Even healthy 18 to 35-year-olds face mortal risk
23:55at 45 degrees Celsius and 40% humidity.
23:58These combinations have already been reached
24:01during this heat wave in South Asia.
24:04And the cruel twist?
24:06Cities stay hotter at night,
24:08concrete and asphalt absorb heat all day
24:12and release it slowly after dark.
24:14The body needs cooler nights to recover.
24:17Without that, the damage just compounds night after night.
24:21The heat did not stop at human bodies.
24:24It went for the infrastructure too.
24:26India saw record electricity demand,
24:29250 gigawatts on May 18th,
24:32climbing to 270.8 gigawatts by May 21st.
24:37Every degree of extra heat sends millions of people
24:41scrambling for air conditioning
24:42and the grid buckles under the load.
24:46Dharnaz broke out across cities in Uttar Pradesh
24:48over power outages.
24:50Meanwhile, cattle died in Jaisalmer
24:53and a water shortage gripped in Dor.
24:56The system was not built for this.
24:59Because nothing was built for this.
25:01Road surfaces in Delhi hit 65 degrees Celsius.
25:04That is not air temperature.
25:06That is the ground itself.
25:08Asphalt softens.
25:10Tires glow.
25:11Dry soil stops evaporating moisture
25:13and instead just absorbs heat,
25:16which warms the air above it furthermore,
25:20which dries the soil furthermore.
25:22A feedback loop with no natural break.
25:25So what does all this tell us?
25:28The UN climate chief said it plainly.
25:30Burning coal, oil and gas is the primary driver.
25:33Scientists confirmed the April heat across Asia
25:37was made 45 times more likely in some areas
25:40because of human-caused climate change.
25:43Europe is warming faster than the global average.
25:46South Asia is approaching conditions that were nearly impossible
25:50before fossil fuel emissions rewired the climate.
25:54The heat wave is not a freak event.
25:56It is the report card.
25:58And the grade is catastrophic.
26:01Monsoon arrives in southern India in early June.
26:04Relief is coming for now.
26:06But the next one will be worse.
26:08The numbers guarantee it.
26:10The question is not whether the world will take climate change seriously.
26:14The question is whether it will happen
26:16before the preview becomes the permanent.
26:21That's all in this edition of Statecraft.
26:23But before we go, America may soon get something
26:26no modern democracy has dared to print.
26:29A currency note featuring a living president.
26:33Republicans are pushing a proposal to place President Trump
26:36on a commemorative currency ahead of America's 250th independence anniversary,
26:43despite current laws banning living people from appearing on U.S. currencies.
26:48Supporters call it patriotic.
26:50Critics call it monarch-style politics.
26:53Sometimes political branding stays on campaign posters.
26:57Sometimes it ends up in your wallet.
27:18For U.S. currency.
27:19At present, no living person can be on U.S. currency,
27:24and the currency must stay in God we trust.
27:26So right now there is proposed legislation
27:30in front of the House, in front of the Senate,
27:32to change the first requirement so that a living person,
27:36Donald J. Trump, could be on a $250 bill.
27:40So it's all in the hands of the, it's all up on Capitol Hill.
27:46So at Treasury, we prepare things in advance,
27:51so we have prepared in advance that if the legislation is passed,
27:56but we will stick to the law.
Comments