The Border Security Force (BSF) is India's Primary border guarding organisation on its border with Pakistan and Bangladesh. It is one of the three Border Guarding Forces (BGF) of India, and was raised in the wake of the 1965 War on 1 December 1965, "for ensuring the security of the borders of India and for matters connected there with".
It is a border guarding force charged with guarding India's land border with Pakistan and Bangladesh during peacetime and preventing transnational crime at the same, it has various active roles during an outbreak of war. It comes under Ministry of Home Affairs. The BSF takes its officers from IPS at command and leadership levels, also, its head, designated as a Director-General (DG), since its raising has been an officer from the Indian Police Service. Also, for leading companies at lower level there is a combination of officers from IPS and BSF's own Assistant Commandants who also get promoted to higher levels based on merit and seniority subject to vacancies.The BSF has grown exponentially from a few battalions in 1965, to 186 battalions with a sanctioned strength of 257,363 personnel including an expanding air wing, marine wing, an artillery regiment, and commando units.It currently stands as the world's largest border guarding force. BSF has been termed as the First Line of Defence of Indian Territories
