Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: Marking a major milestone in the country’s longstanding efforts to combat terrorism in all its forms, the Centre has introduced the nation’s first comprehensive counterterrorism policy, titled ‘PRAHAAR’. It establishes a structured national framework to address evolving and complex security threats, including cross-border terrorism, drone-based attacks, cyber-enabled threats, and organised terror networks.
The document underscores India’s decades-long experience and leadership in combating terrorism, firmly rejecting any attempt to link terrorism with any particular religion, ethnicity, nationality, or civilisation.
It reiterates the Government’s unwavering zero-tolerance approach towards terrorism and violence, while emphasising support for victims and rejecting any justification for acts of terror under any circumstances. Highlighting regional instability, the existence of ungoverned spaces, and instances of statesponsored terrorism, the strategy adopts a multilayered approach focused on prevention, swift and proportionate response, enhanced inter-agency coordination, and strict adherence to human rights and the rule of law.
The eight-page policy document, which has been made publicly available on the MHA website, formalises a unified and institutionalised approach that has guided India’s counter-terror efforts over the years amid evolving threats. India’s position remains unequivocal that terrorism, in any form or manifestation, cannot be justified under any pretext, and the country does not associate terrorism with any religion, ethnicity, nationality, or civilisation.
The policy is rooted in a commitment to safeguarding citizens, upholding human rights, and ensuring accountability through established legal and judicial processes under the rule of law.
The term ‘PRAHAAR’, meaning “strike”, represents seven core pillars of India’s counter-terrorism framework: prevention of terrorist attacks, swift and proportionate response, capacity-building across security and intelligence agencies, ensuring human rights-compliant operations, addressing conditions conducive to radicalisation, strengthening international cooperation, and promoting societal resilience and recovery, according to the document.
The threat assessment section presents a detailed overview of persistent and emerging challenges confronting India’s security architecture. The document notes growing convergence between terror networks and organised crime groups, which facilitate logistics, recruitment, and financial flows. Prevention remains the cornerstone of the policy, with emphasis on intelligence-led operations and coordinated surveillance. Institutions such as the Multi Agency Centre and the Joint Task Force on Intelligence have been designated as central nodes for real-time intelligence sharing, threat assessment, and coordinated action.
Critical infrastructure, including power installations, railways, aviation networks, ports, defence facilities, space assets, and atomic energy establishments, will receive enhanced protection under the framework. Under the response mechanism, local police forces will act as first responders in terror incidents, supported by specialised state counter-terror units and elite national forces such as the National Security Guard in major operations.