Counter-Terrorism Policy of India

India unveiled its first ever counter-terrorism policy in February 2026. 

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) unveiled India’s first-ever comprehensive National Counter-Terrorism Policy and Strategy, titled 'PRAHAAR' on 23 Feb 2026. This marks a paradigm shift from a reactive security stance to a proactive, intelligence-driven doctrine.

India faces terrorist threats on all three fronts—water, land and air—and that capacities have been developed to protect critical sectors of the economy, including power, railways, aviation, ports, defence, space and atomic energy, from both state/non-state actors.

 'PRAHAAR' shifts to a proactive, intelligence-led, whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach, combining prevention, swift response, de-radicalisation, legal frameworks, and international cooperation to address evolving terror threats.

Its effectiveness will depend on overcoming federal coordination challenges, capacity gaps, and civil liberties concerns while strengthening technology use, inter-agency coordination, and global partnerships to ensure security with adherence to the rule of law.

It is driven by a principled policy of 'zero tolerance' against terrorism. The strategy is an acronym representing the core pillars of India's proactive defense mechanism: 

o    Prevention of Terror Attacks: Employs proactive, intelligence-guided approach via Multi Agency Centre (MAC) and Joint Task Force on Intelligence (JTFI) for real-time sharing.

• Prevention of terror attacks to protect Indian citizens and interests;
• Law enforcement actively counters terrorist misuse of the internet for recruitment, propaganda, and communication, while dismantling over-ground worker (OGW) support networks. 
• Coordinated operations target the emerging nexus between illegal arms syndicates and terrorist groups and disrupt terror funding through legal frameworks. 
• Border guarding forces and immigration authorities deploy advanced technologies to address threats across land, air, and maritime domains, alongside strengthened protection of critical infrastructure such as power, railways, aviation, ports, defence, space, and atomic energy sectors.

• Response: Local police as first responders, backed by state/central anti-terror forces and NSG (nodal counter-terror force under MHA).
• NIA and state agencies ensure rigorous investigations and high prosecution rates for deterrence.
• Responses, which are swift and proportionate to the threat posed;
• The National Security Guard(NSG)  acts as the nodal national agency under the MHA, providing elite intervention for major attacks and leading capacity-building initiatives for state units. 
• Coordination is streamlined through an MHA-issued Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) and the Multi-Agency Centre (MAC), which facilitates real-time intelligence dissemination and analysis. 
• Post-incident, the National Investigation Agency (NIA)  works alongside State Police to ensure high prosecution rates, aiming to establish a robust legal deterrent against future terror threats.
• Aggregating Capacities: Includes the modernization of law enforcement agencies and the standardization of uniform anti-terrorism structures across states, supported by specialized training from the Bureau of Police Research & Development (BPR&D).
• Aggregating internal capacities for achieving synergy in a whole-of-government approach;
• It mandates the continuous acquisition of advanced weaponry and technology while upgrading training faculties to incorporate global best practices.
• Key agencies like the Bureau of Police Research & Development (BPR&D) and CAPFs lead large-scale training, while the NSG provides specialized urban combat expertise to state units. 
• By identifying resource gaps and advocating for a uniform anti-terrorism structure across all States, the policy ensures that multi-agency responses are synergistic and interoperable.
• Human Rights and Rule of Law Based Processes: The strategy emphasizes that all anti-terrorism laws must protect fundamental human rights and provide multiple levels of legal redressal from district courts up to the Supreme Court.
• Human rights and ‘Rule of Law’ based processes for mitigation of threats;
• It balances national security with fundamental rights by adhering to the Rule of Law,  the The Protection of Human Rights Act (1993), and international treaties like the Universal Declarsation of Human Rights (1948) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
• The legal backbone consists of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act(UAPA) 1967, supported by the new criminal codes- (Bharathiya Nyaya Sanhitha 2023), Bharathiya Nagarik Suraksha 2023, Bharathiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023  alongside specialized laws like the PMLA 2002  and the Arms Act 1959
• To prevent misuse, the policy highlights a robust multi-level judicial redressal system from District Courts to the Supreme Court ensuring due process, affordable legal representation, and ample opportunities for appeal.
• Attenuating the conditions conducive to Terrorism: Graded police response for vulnerable youth, engaging community leaders/NGOs/moderate preachers against radicalization. 
• Attenuating the conditions enabling terrorism, including radicalization;
• It addresses the root causes of radicalization through a multi-stakeholder de-radicalization framework involving community leaders, religious heads, and NGOs to counter extremist narratives.
• The policy adopts a graded response to radicalised youth, prioritising rehabilitation for minor cases and legal action against hardcore elements. 
• It also focuses on socio-economic empowerment to prevent recruitment and includes measures to curb prison radicalisation by separating ideologues from vulnerable inmates.
• Aligning and Shaping the International Efforts: Strengthening multilateral cooperation through Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties (MLATs) and Extradition Treaties; deny safe havens and restrict terror funding globally.
• Aligning and shaping the international efforts to counter terrorism;
• It focuses on denying safe havens by utilizing Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties (MLATs), Extradition Treaties, and Joint Working Groups (JWGs) to facilitate evidence sharing and the deportation of fugitives. 
• Beyond agency-to-agency intelligence exchange, India leverages international forums to share global best practices and collaborates with partners to designate terrorists at the United Nations, ensuring a holistic and globally-aligned national response.
• Recovery and Resilience through a whole-of-society approach: Advocates for public-private partnerships to ensure rapid recovery post-incident.
• Recovery and resilience through a whole-of-society approach.
• Central to this is a strong public-private partnership that facilitates rapid restoration and long-term community strength.
• By combining state-led restoration with reinforced police security measures, the policy aims to restore normalcy swiftly and build long-term psychological and physical resilience against terror-induced disruption.

MHA policy emphasises that, in addition to terrorism sponsored from across the border, “criminal hackers and nation-states are targeting India with cyber-attacks” . The policy underlines that “India does not link terrorism to any specific religion, ethnicity, nationality or civilisation.” However, it notes that the country has long been affected by “sponsored terrorism” from across the border, with “Jihadi terror outfits as well as their frontal organisations” continuing to plan, coordinate, facilitate and execute terror attacks in India.

India has been on the target of global terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which have been trying to incite violence in the country through sleeper cells , adding that violent extremists operating from foreign countries have hatched conspiracies to promote terrorism.

 Their handlers from across the border frequently use the latest technologies, including the use of drones, for facilitating terror-related activities and attacks in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir. Increasingly, terrorist groups are engaging organised criminal networks for logistics and recruitment to execute and facilitate terror strikes in India.

Background

Union Home Minister Amit Shah had announced on November 7, 2024, that a National Counter Terrorism Policy and Strategy was being drafted to fight terrorism and its ecosystem. A National Policy and Action Plan for Left Wing Extremism (LWE) was introduced in 2015.

Following the April 22, 2025, Pahalgam terror incident, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) conducted meetings with anti-terror units of all States and apprised them of the measures aimed at preventing and pre-empting such attacks.

It further states that for propaganda, communication, funding and guiding terror attacks, these terror groups use social media platforms as well as ‘instant messaging applications’ and technological advancements such as encryption, dark web, crypto wallets etc, enabling them to operate anonymously.

Disrupting/Intercepting terrorist efforts to access and use CBRNED (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosive, Digital) materials remains a challenge for Counter Terrorism (CT) agencies. The threat of state and non-state actors misusing drones and robotics for lethal purposes remains another area of concern.

As a way forward, the policy suggests that to make appropriate cases against the perpetrators of acts of terrorism, there is a need to associate legal experts at every stage of investigation, right from the registration of FIR to its culmination in prosecution.

Terrorist groups based outside (from abroad) nowadays use the infrastructure, logistics and terrain knowledge of local outfits for launching attacks. National actions, coupled with international and regional cooperation, are key elements in addressing the transnational terrorism challenge.

The Indian intelligence and law enforcement agencies have been continuously working to prevent the recruitment of Indian youth by extremist groups.

“Once identified, these youths undergo a graded police response, aimed at comprehensively addressing the problem of radicalisation and violent extremism in a multi-stakeholder setting. Legal action is initiated against the individual based on their level of radicalisation,” says the Ministry’s new policy.

Underscoring the role of community and religious leaders, the policy states that moderate preachers and NGOs are engaged to spread awareness about the adverse consequences and impacts of radicalisation and extremist violence.

Besides, youths are constructively engaged to ensure that issues that may threaten peace and communal harmony are checked. Prison staff are cautioned from time to time to prevent acts of radicalisation of vulnerable inmates by hardcore inmates. De-radicalisation programmes are also undertaken.

There may be a move to establish a uniform anti-terrorism structure across States, as standardisation of processes and procedures would ensure similar and synergistic responses to terror attack.

According to MHA,  the policy aims to criminalise all terrorist acts and deny access to terrorists, their financiers and supporters access to funds, weapons and safe havens.

Evolving Terrorism Challenges Faced by India

§  State-Sponsored Terrorism: Persistent cross-border support to jihadi outfits and affiliated groups planning and executing attacks in India.

§  Global Terror Linkages: Groups such as Al-Qaeda and ISIS attempt to incite violence through sleeper cells and online radicalisation.

§  Use of Advanced Technologies: Drones and modern tools are used by handlers abroad to facilitate attacks, especially in Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir.

§  Criminal-Terror Nexus: Terror groups increasingly collaborate with organised crime networks for logistics, recruitment, and funding.

§  Digital Ecosystem Misuse: Social media, encrypted messaging apps, dark web, and cryptocurrencies enable propaganda, coordination, and anonymous financing.

§  CBRNED Threats: Risks of terrorists accessing Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosive, and Digital (CBRNED) materials remain a major concern.

§  Drone and Robotics Risks: Potential misuse by state and non-state actors for surveillance and lethal operations.

§  Cyber Threats: Criminal hackers and hostile nation-states continue to target India through cyber-attacks on critical systems.

PRAHAAR reflects a zero-tolerance, proactive whole-of-society approach that combines technological disruption, legal action, and community-based de-radicalisation to strengthen national security. Its success will depend on balancing firm enforcement with the protection of fundamental rights.

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