The Union home ministry's October 11 order to extend the jurisdiction of the Border Security Forces (BSF) has, understandably, caused furore. The decision appears to have been taken without consulting the states whose police forces are directly affected by it, and is seen by the opposition parties as yet another step to undermine India’s federal structure. Given how many times the Union administration has weakened states' powers since 2019, using both its majority in Parliament and the central agencies under the control of the home ministry, the accusation is well-founded. But it also distracts from the critical security questions that the decision raises. Will the extension of the BSF's powers improve our security? Is the BSF better qualified to search, seize and arrest in civilian areas than state police forces? Even if it's better qualified, is enhancing the BSF's powers the best way to remedy the shortfalls in policing? Will the impact lower the morale of local police forces and add to the civilian security vacuum that is spreading across the country? Few of these questions have been seriously tackled by apologists for the home ministry's order. We are told that the Taliban's takeover in Afghanistan has revived serious threats of cross-border infiltration from Pakistan, while China, our other tense neighbour, has been increasingly aggressive over the past year. We are also told, in the same breath, that really very little has changed: The BSF's powers have not altered, only its jurisdiction has changed from 15 to 50 kilometres and that is for the purposes of uniformity. Both arguments cannot possibly be true, since each negates the other. That India is facing heightened security threats is undeniable. What is unclear is how the BSF's extended jurisdiction helps counter these threats. In the security context, arguments about uniformity are patently absurd. What uniformity is there between coastal smuggling in Gujarat, cross-border infiltration in Jammu and Kashmir, smuggling and drone drops in Punjab, or illegal migration to Assam? Proscribing each one requires different capabilities, as our own experience in tackling such threats indicates. The recent drug seizures in Gujarat's Adani port were successfully conducted by the customs department and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence not by the BSF, despite their jurisdiction depth of 80 kilometres in the state. Moreover, if the BSF has been unable to tackle cross-border smuggling in Assam within 15 kilometres, what makes them believe it will be able to do so within 50 kilometres? Similarly, the BSF has had only limited success in downing drones when sighted, in both Jammu and Punjab. Rather than extend territorial jurisdiction, why not explore technologies that might improve the BSF's intercept and destroy capabilities? When it comes to cross-border infiltration, intelligence is the key. It