J&K L-G on Operation Sindoor, narco-terror nexus and cross-border infiltration

📌 Summary:

• In an interview, J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said Operation Sindoor — launched a year ago — has worked as a deterrent, even though Pakistan-backed infiltration attempts continue.

• He claimed local militant recruitment, once in three digits annually, has fallen to single digits, and that no top commander of known terror groups is currently alive in J&K.

• The security focus has shifted to the Pir Panjal and Chenab (Jammu) region after the adversary tried to open a new front there; encounters in Kathua, Udhampur and Kishtwar, including the killing of a top Jaish commander, indicate the situation is under control.

• On the narco-terror nexus, he said investigations show the network is run from across the border, with money from narcotics smuggling reaching terror groups — making drug control integral to counter-terrorism.

• He identified vulnerable border belts (Kupwara's Tangdhar/Keran, Baramulla's Uri, Bandipora's Gurez; and Kathua, Samba, Rajouri, Poonch in Jammu) and said drones and courier networks are used for drug-dropping.

• The administration is countering this with technology (airport-like scanners in border areas), transfers of officers repeatedly posted in vulnerable districts, and a three-pronged anti-drug strategy of supply-chain disruption, awareness padyatras and rehabilitation, with a confidential help portal for families.

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS3 — internal security in J&K, cross-border terrorism and infiltration, the narco-terror nexus as a financing channel, and integrated security plus rehabilitation strategies.

🔑 Key Term: Narco-terror nexus — the linkage between drug trafficking and terrorism, where proceeds from narcotics smuggling fund militant activity and weaken the State.