More than seventy years of Census data indicate that although numerous border states, especially in the Northeast and North, frequently experience above-average population growth, the trend is anything but consistent; however, in the North, the distinction between border and inland states is typically vague.

Highlighting the “danger” of unauthorized immigration, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated last week that the nation’s demographics were changing as “a result of a calculated and intentional scheme.”

"When demographic shifts take place, especially in border regions, it leads to a crisis in national security." It jeopardizes the cohesion, wholeness, and advancement of the nation. It similarly plants the beginnings of societal discord. No nation can surrender itself to intruders. “No country globally engages in this — so how can we permit India to proceed?” Modi stated during his Independence Day address last Friday when unveiling a “demographic mission.”

An examination of Census data spanning seven decades indicates that although numerous border states, especially in the Northeast and along the northern frontier, have frequently experienced higher-than-average population growth, this trend is not consistent, and in northern India, the distinction between border and inland states is frequently ambiguous.

Northeast and northern border lead, although with setbacks.

During a significant portion of the post-Independence era, northeastern regions like Tripura, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, and Sikkim, along with Jammu & Kashmir in the north, experienced growth rates considerably exceeding the national average.