{"id":4066,"date":"2026-09-14T05:22:20","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T05:22:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kingmakersiasacademy.com\/current-affairs\/?p=4066"},"modified":"2026-09-15T05:27:48","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T05:27:48","slug":"counter-terror-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kingmakersiasacademy.com\/current-affairs\/counter-terror-strategy\/","title":{"rendered":"COUNTER TERROR STRATEGY"},"content":{"rendered":"<table style=\"font-size: 16px; font-style: normal;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<blockquote><p><b>SYLLABUS: Internal Security<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>General Studies \u2013 : III &#8211; Linkages of Organized Crime with Terrorism<\/b><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><b>IN NEWS:<\/b> <b>Terror\u2019s changing face, India\u2019s counter-terror strategy<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>QUESTION: <\/b><b style=\"font-style: inherit;\">&#8220;India&#8217;s counter-terrorism strategy has shifted from restraint to deterrence.&#8221; Discuss with reference to India&#8217;s new-age counter-terrorism policy framework.\u00a0 <\/b><b style=\"font-style: inherit;\"><i>(15 Marks, 250 Words)<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>ANSWER: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Terrorism in India has evolved from organised cross-border networks to decentralised cells, lone-wolf attacks and technologically-enabled threats drones, cyber capabilities, and radicalisation. In response, India&#8217;s counter-terrorism strategy, shaped largely by persistent cross-border terrorism rooted in Jammu &amp; Kashmir since the early 1990s, has shifted from passive restraint to active deterrence, treating cross-border terror as an act of war.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><b> Evolution of India&#8217;s Counter-Terrorism Approach<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><b><i>Restraint-based Response: 1990s &#8211; 2008<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Defensive restraint:<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">During the 1990s, India primarily treated terrorism as an internal security challenge, relying on intelligence, policing, counter-insurgency and diplomatic pressure.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0Major incidents included the 1993 Mumbai blasts, 1998 Coimbatore blasts and IC-814 hijacking (1999).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Strategic restraint:\u00a0<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The 2001 Parliament attack led to Operation Parakram (2001\u201302) and large-scale military mobilisation, but India stopped short of cross-border military action.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The 26\/11 Mumbai attacks (2008) further demonstrated India&#8217;s preference for diplomatic, intelligence and investigative responses despite evidence of external linkages.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b><i>Proactive Deterrence: 2016 &#8211; 2019<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Surgical strikes (2016): <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Following the Uri attack, India directly targeted terrorist launch pads across the LoC, signalling a shift towards imposing costs on terrorist infrastructure.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Balakot air strikes (2019): <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Following Pulwama, India undertook a cross-border precision strike, demonstrating greater willingness to target terror infrastructure beyond the LoC.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b><i>Integrated Counter-Terrorism: 2019\u20132025<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India&#8217;s response increasingly combined military, intelligence, financial, diplomatic and technological instruments, moving beyond isolated kinetic operations.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Counter-terrorism increasingly focused on terror financing, recruitment, radicalisation, intelligence fusion and disruption of terrorist networks, alongside conventional security operations.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b><i>Institutionalised Deterrence: 2026<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Operation Sindoor, following the Pahalgam attack, represents a further shift towards integrated deterrence, combining military action with intelligence, diplomatic and financial measures.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>PRAHAAR &#8211; National Counter-Terrorism Policy and Strategy, 2026 <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">is seen as the culmination of this evolution, seeking to replace fragmented, agency-specific responses with a codified national framework.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thus, India&#8217;s trajectory has moved from <\/span><b>restraint \u2192 proactive retaliation \u2192 integrated response \u2192 institutionalised deterrence.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<ol start=\"2\">\n<li><b> New-Age Policy Architecture<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><b><i>PRAHAAR &#8211; National Counter-Terrorism Policy and Strategy<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">PRAHAAR marks a shift from ad hoc, agency-driven responses to a comprehensive national doctrine, complementing existing instruments such as the UAPA and NIA framework.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">National Counter-Terrorism Policy and Strategy <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">rests on <\/span><b>two organising principles:\u00a0<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The<\/span><b> &#8220;whole-of-government&#8221; approach<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, synchronising MHA, Ministry of Defence, intelligence agencies (IB, R&amp;AW), NIA, state police and financial regulators (ED, FIU-IND);\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>&#8220;whole-of-society&#8221; approach, <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">extending counter-terrorism to civil society, education, and local communities.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Therefore, it addresses both<\/span> <b><i>prevention<\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (radicalisation, financing, recruitment) and <\/span><b><i>response<\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (operations, investigation, deterrence) as<\/span><b> twin pillars.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b><i>The Four-Fold Operational Strategy for Residual Threats<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Continuous elimination<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of remaining terror infrastructure within Indian territory, particularly Kashmir.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Pre-emptive cross-border military action<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> against terror launch-pads along the LoC\u00a0 institutionalising what surgical strikes (2016) and Balakot (2019) began as one-off responses.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Exhaustive de-radicalisation programme <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">a preventive, non-kinetic pillar mainstreaming vulnerable youth and making terror affiliation socially and economically unattractive.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Cutting off terror financing <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">through coordinated international mechanisms <\/span><b>(e.g., FATF).<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b><i>Institutional Architecture Reinforcing the New Policy<\/i><\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>National Investigation Agency (NIA):<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India&#8217;s <\/span><b>central counter-terrorism law-enforcement agency<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, responsible for investigation and prosecution of offences threatening national security, including terrorism.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Multi-Agency Centre (MAC):<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An <\/span><b>intelligence-sharing and coordination mechanism under the Intelligence Bureau (IB)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that facilitates real-time sharing of actionable intelligence among central and State security agencies.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>National Security Guard (NSG):<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India&#8217;s <\/span><b>specialised counter-terrorism force<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, trained for high-risk operations such as counter-terrorist intervention, hostage rescue and anti-sabotage operations.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID):<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An <\/span><b>integrated intelligence framework<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that enables authorised security and law-enforcement agencies to access and analyse information from multiple databases for intelligence-led investigation and threat assessment.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA):<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India&#8217;s principal <\/span><b>anti-terror legal framework<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, enabling the government to proscribe terrorist organisations and designate individuals as terrorists, besides providing provisions for investigation and prosecution.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC):<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0A <\/span><b>proposed centralised counter-terrorism mechanism<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> intended to integrate intelligence, investigation and operational capabilities; its establishment remains a matter of institutional and inter-governmental debate.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Enforcement Directorate (ED):<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Investigates <\/span><b>money-laundering and proceeds of crime<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that can include financial networks associated with terrorism and organised crime.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Financial Intelligence Unit\u2013India (FIU-IND):<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India&#8217;s central agency for receiving, processing and analysing <\/span><b>suspicious financial transaction information<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, helping identify potential money-laundering and terror-financing networks.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA):<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>nodal Union ministry for internal security and counter-terrorism coordination<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, overseeing the broader policy, legislative and institutional framework.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>National Security Council (NSC):<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The apex <\/span><b>institutional framework for advising the government on national security matters<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, supporting strategic coordination and policy formulation.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Financial Action Task Force (FATF):<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An <\/span><b>inter-governmental body that sets global standards against money laundering and terrorist financing<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, strengthening international efforts to disrupt the financial ecosystem of terrorism<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b><i>Responding to New-Age Threats<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Terrorism is increasingly shifting towards <\/span><b>smaller autonomous cells and lone-wolf actors<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, reducing the effectiveness of traditional network-centric approaches.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Drones<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> facilitate surveillance, arms\/drug smuggling and attacks, while <\/span><b>cyber capabilities and AI<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> create new avenues for recruitment,propaganda,reconnaissance and operational planning.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Counter-terrorism therefore requires continuous technological upgradation, including <\/span><b>AI-enabled intelligence, cyber capabilities, drone countermeasures and predictive threat assessment<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b><i>Diplomatic and Multilateral Reinforcement<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India has sought to strengthen the international counter-terrorism consensus through platforms such as the <\/span><b>SCO and BRICS<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, while highlighting the problem of states using terrorism as an instrument of policy.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Such diplomatic efforts complement kinetic deterrence by seeking the <\/span><b>international isolation of terrorist organisations and their state sponsors<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India&#8217;s counter-terrorism strategy has consequently evolved from <\/span><b>strategic restraint to calibrated deterrence and institutionalised counter-terrorism<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Yet, military deterrence alone cannot address decentralised and technology-enabled terrorism. Sustainable security requires the simultaneous strengthening of <\/span><b>intelligence coordination, de-radicalisation, financial disruption, technological preparedness, diplomatic isolation and societal resilience<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<blockquote><p><b>PYQ REFERENCE UPSC 2019<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Q.<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Indian government has recently strengthened the anti-terrorism laws by amending the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), 1967 and the NIA Act. Analyze the changes in the context of the prevailing security environment while discussing the scope and reasons for opposing the UAPA by human rights organizations. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">[15 Marks, 250 Words]\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><b>SOURCE: <a href=\"https:\/\/epaper.thehindu.com\/ccidist-ws\/th\/th_international\/issues\/204267\/OPS\/GBHGGCKAU.1+GVIGHFBM8.1.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Hindu e-paper &#8211; Terror\u2019s changing face, India\u2019s counter-terror strategy<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SYLLABUS: Internal Security General Studies \u2013 : III &#8211; Linkages of Organized Crime with Terrorism IN NEWS: Terror\u2019s changing face, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4067,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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