{"id":84997,"date":"2026-09-17T18:06:34","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T12:36:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=84997"},"modified":"2026-09-17T18:06:39","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T12:36:39","slug":"india-counter-terror-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/editorial-analysis\/17-09-2026\/india-counter-terror-strategy","title":{"rendered":"India\u2019s Counter-Terror Strategy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS3\/Security<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Terrorism has evolved from large hierarchical organisations into decentralised networks using drones, cyber tools and emerging technologies, pushing <strong>India to adopt a comprehensive counter-terrorism strategy.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Evolution of Terrorism<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>From Hierarchical Networks to Decentralised Cells: <\/strong>The al-Qaeda attacks of <strong>September 11, 2001<\/strong><strong>fundamentally altered <\/strong>global counter-terrorism and the subsequent decades witnessed the weakening of centralised organisations.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Persons such as <strong>Osama bin Laden<\/strong> and <strong>Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi<\/strong>, alongside the emergence of <strong>smaller autonomous cells<\/strong> and <strong>lone-wolf attacks<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Technology as a Force Multiplier: <\/strong>Terrorist networks increasingly exploit drones, encrypted communication, social media, instant messaging, dark web, crypto-wallets and cyber capabilities for recruitment, propaganda, financing and operations.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The <strong>MHA&#8217;s <\/strong><strong><em>National Counter-Terrorism Policy &amp; Strategy<\/em><\/strong> identifies risks from <strong>robotics, cyber-attacks and CBRNED materials<\/strong> (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosive and Digital).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>India\u2019s Early Experience<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Multiple and Evolving Threats: <\/strong>India&#8217;s cross-border terrorism in Kashmir intensified during the <strong>early 1990s<\/strong>.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The <strong>assassination of Rajiv Gandhi in 1991<\/strong> by the LTTE in Sriperumbudur demonstrated that terrorism was not confined to Kashmir.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The <strong>Mumbai serial blasts (1993)<\/strong> <strong>&amp; <\/strong>the <strong>hijacking of IC-814 (December, 1999)<\/strong> brought the Pakistan connection into sharper focus. India released terrorists including <strong>Ahmed Omar Sheikh and Masood Azhar<\/strong> in exchange for more than <strong>160 hostages<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The <strong>Parliament attack (December, 2001)<\/strong>, attributed to Pakistan-based <strong>Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM)<\/strong>, resulted in <strong>Operation Parakram<\/strong>, involving large-scale military mobilisation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Other major attacks included <strong>Akshardham (2002), Varanasi (2006), German Bakery, Pune (2010)<\/strong> and attacks in Delhi i.e. <strong>Red Fort (2000), serial market blasts (2005), Delhi blasts (2008)<\/strong> and the <strong>Delhi High Court blast (2011)<\/strong>, which killed <strong>15 people<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>However, nuclear deterrence and escalation risks led to international diplomatic intervention and eventual disengagement after nearly two years.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>India: From Strategic Restraint to Cross-Border Strikes<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Uri and Surgical Strikes: <\/strong>The <strong>Uri attack<\/strong> (<strong>September, 2016<\/strong>) by JeM terrorists was followed by <strong>India&#8217;s surgical strikes across the LoC<\/strong> against terrorist launch infrastructure.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Pulwama and Balakot: <\/strong>Following the <strong>Pulwama attack<\/strong> on a CRPF convoy (<strong>February, 2019<\/strong>), the IAF conducted strikes on a JeM camp at <strong>Balakot<\/strong>, marking the <strong>first Indian Air Force strike<\/strong> across Pakistani airspace against a terrorist target.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Pahalgam and Operation Sindoor: <\/strong>The <strong>Pahalgam terror attack<\/strong> (<strong>April, 2025<\/strong>) was followed by <strong>Operation Sindoor.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>India&#8217;s approach has evolved<\/strong> from primarily diplomatic and defensive responses towards <strong>intelligence-led prevention combined with calibrated cross-border action<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Related Efforts &amp; Initiatives<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Global:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>UN Security Council counter-terrorism mechanisms<\/strong> and terrorist-designation regimes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>International cooperation on <strong>terror financing, extradition and intelligence sharing<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Action<\/strong>: Since becoming a member in 2010, India has actively used the FATF platform to strengthen global action against terror financing and expose state-sponsored terrorism.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>No Money for Terror Ministerial Conference<\/strong> (2018-19): India called for the early adoption of the <strong>UN Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT)<\/strong> and advocated the impartial and non-politicized enforcement of <strong>FATF standards.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Coordination With INTERPOL: BHARATPOL portal<\/strong> connects the CBI (as <strong><em>INTERPOL&#8217;s National Central Bureau for India)<\/em><\/strong> with all law enforcement authorities in India on a single platform, covering areas including transnational organised crime, narcotics trafficking, arms, cybercrime, economic fraud, child pornography, and terrorism.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>India\u2019s Emerging Comprehensive Approach &amp; Strategy<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act, 2019: <\/strong>It strengthened India\u2019s anti-terror legal framework by expanding the powers of the Central Government and investigative agencies.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img data-dominant-color=\"d0dee9\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"639\" height=\"631\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/09\/image-125.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"not-transparent wp-image-85000\" style=\"--dominant-color: #d0dee9; width:481px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/09\/image-125.png 639w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/09\/image-125-300x296.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 639px) 100vw, 639px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>National Investigation Agency Amendment Act, 2019: <\/strong>It aims to expand the NIA&#8217;s jurisdictional mandate and it is enabled to investigate terror-related offences committed outside India against Indian interests.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Strengthening of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) Provisions<\/strong>: These have provided the Enforcement Directorate (ED) with sharper instruments to trace, freeze, and confiscate terror-linked assets<strong>.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023: <\/strong>It is for the first time that terrorism and organised crime has also been defined, and provisions for stringent punishment have been made under the new criminal laws.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Arms (Amendment) Act, 2019:<\/strong> It strengthened India&#8217;s response to terrorism, insurgency, and organised crime by targeting illegal arms networks.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>National Counter-Terrorism Policy &amp; Strategy (PRAHAAR): <\/strong>It provides a comprehensive framework based on seven pillars:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Prevention<\/strong> of terrorist attacks;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Swift and proportionate response<\/strong>;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Aggregation of internal capacities<\/strong> through whole-of-government coordination;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Human rights and rule-of-law-based processes<\/strong>;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Addressing conditions conducive to <strong>radicalisation<\/strong>;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img data-dominant-color=\"a6c8dd\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"749\" height=\"655\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/09\/image-123.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"not-transparent wp-image-84998\" style=\"--dominant-color: #a6c8dd; width:395px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/09\/image-123.png 749w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/09\/image-123-300x262.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 749px) 100vw, 749px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>International cooperation<\/strong>; and<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Recovery and resilience<\/strong> through a whole-of-society approach.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It targets terrorists and their <strong>financiers, facilitators, over-ground workers, weapons networks and digital propaganda systems<\/strong>.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It emphasises cooperation among intelligence agencies, police, CAPFs, NIA and NSG.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Way Forward<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Strengthen <strong>real-time intelligence fusion<\/strong> between Centre, States and security agencies.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Build uniform <strong>CT\/ATS structures, resources, training and investigation capabilities<\/strong> across States\/UTs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Enhance <strong>counter-drone, cyber and AI-enabled threat detection<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Disrupt terror financing through stronger domestic and international cooperation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Pursue <strong>de-radicalisation, counter-narratives, education and community engagement<\/strong> while safeguarding constitutional rights.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Improve prosecution through <strong>early involvement of legal experts<\/strong> in investigations.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Deepen international cooperation against <strong>safe havens, terrorist financing, weapons and digital ecosystems<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Maintain a balance between <strong>national security, proportionality, human rights and rule of law<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Twenty-five years after 9\/11, terrorism has not disappeared; it has <strong>fragmented, technologised and transnationalised<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>India&#8217;s counter-terrorism architecture is consequently moving from reactive security to an integrated model combining <strong>prevention, intelligence, response, international cooperation, de-radicalisation and societal resilience<\/strong>, the core logic of <em>PRAHAAR<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-background has-fixed-layout\" style=\"background-color:#fff2cc\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Daily Mains Practice Question<\/strong><br><strong>[Q] <\/strong>Examine the changing nature of terrorism and analyse the evolution of India\u2019s counter-terrorism strategy from strategic restraint to a comprehensive, intelligence-led approach under PRAHAAR.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/opinion\/lead\/terrors-changing-face-indias-counter-terror-strategy\/article71464144.ece\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Source: TH<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Published on:<\/strong> 17 September, 2026<\/p>\n<p>Terrorism has evolved from large hierarchical organisations into decentralised networks using drones, cyber tools and emerging technologies, pushing India to adopt a comprehensive counter-terrorism strategy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-editorial-analysis"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84997"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84997\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85001,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84997\/revisions\/85001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}