PRAHAAR Augments India's Zero Tolerance Towards Terrorism

The framing of a comprehensive policy underscores continuity rather than departure, expressing concerns about regional security.

Historically, India has maintained a "zero-tolerance" policy towards terrorism. PRAHAAR is an eight-page strategy document that strengthens India's long-standing counter-terrorism policy with a strategic framework. 

It reflects both consolidation and evolution, consolidating India’s long-standing zero-tolerance stance, while moving towards a more integrated, technology-driven, and whole-of-society model.

At its core, PRAHAAR reflects an acknowledgement that terrorism has evolved in character and method, even as its ideological motivations and cross-border links persist. As the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) asserts, India has remained consistently opposed to terrorism “in all its forms and manifestations,” positioning the country as a longstanding and frontline actor in the global counter-terrorism landscape.

Universal Response

The document emphasises that India does not associate terrorism with any religion, ethnicity, nationality, or civilisation. By reiterating that terrorism cannot be linked to any particular faith or community, the policy attempts to balance hard security postures with constitutional and pluralistic commitments. The declared principle of “zero tolerance” is thus framed not as a sectarian stance, but as a rule-based and universal response to violence.

Strategically, PRAHAAR is built around four interlinked pillars:

• Prevention of attacks,
• Swift and proportionate response,
• Aggregation of institutional capacities, and
• Adherence to human rights and the rule of law

Preventive Measures

The preventive measures focus on early detection, giving emphasis on intelligence-led policing and real-time information-sharing. The doctrine highlights the role of the Multi Agency Centre (MAC) and the Joint Task Force on Intelligence (JTFI) within the Intelligence Bureau as nodal platforms for inter-agency coordination. 

According to the policy document, the local police have been put at the forefront of the response architecture, acknowledging them as the first responders in any terror incident. They are supported by specialised state units and central forces, with the National Security Guard (NSG) functioning as the national-level counter-terror intervention force.

Post-incident investigations are to be spearheaded by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in coordination with the state police. The emphasis on maintaining high prosecution rates signals an attempt to create deterrence not only through operational disruption but also through judicial certainty.

Cyber Monitoring

The MHA also mentioned the growing misuse of drones for transporting arms, explosives, and narcotics. Terrorist handlers are leveraging encrypted communication platforms, social media networks, instant messaging applications, and the dark web to propagate ideology, recruit operatives, and coordinate attacks.

The increasing use of crypto wallets for anonymous funding adds a financial opacity dimension to the threat. By recognising these trends, the doctrine underscores the need for advanced digital forensics, cyber monitoring, and regulatory frameworks that can track illicit financial flows without compromising civil liberties.

The document also flags the risk of terrorists seeking access to Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosive, and Digital (CBRNED) materials. While such threats remain largely aspirational in many contexts, their inclusion reflects a forward-looking assessment of worst-case scenarios. Parallel concerns about cyber attacks by criminal hackers and nation-state actors further expand the counter-terrorism lens beyond conventional bombings or armed assaults to encompass hybrid and asymmetric warfare.

Strategic Priority

The policy calls for the use of legal mechanisms to dismantle funding networks, choke logistical supply chains, and neutralise overground worker (OGW) modules that provide local facilitation. Border guarding forces and immigration authorities are described as being equipped with advanced surveillance and detection technologies to secure land, air, and maritime frontiers. Additionally, critical infrastructure sectors — including power, aviation, ports, defence installations, and atomic energy facilities — are being fortified against both state and non-state threats. This indicates an expansion of counter-terror planning into infrastructure resilience and continuity management.

Beyond hard security measures, PRAHAAR devotes notable attention to counter-radicalisation. Intelligence and law enforcement agencies are encouraged to adopt graded and proportionate responses to violent extremism.

Community leaders, non-governmental organisations, and moderate religious voices are to be engaged in awareness campaigns that highlight the consequences of extremist violence. Efforts to prevent radicalisation within prisons and to address socio-economic vulnerabilities through education, employment, and welfare initiatives, particularly targeting youth and women, reflect an understanding that long-term security depends on addressing underlying grievances and social alienation.

The transnational character of terrorism forms another pillar of the doctrine. International cooperation is deemed indispensable, encompassing intelligence sharing, extradition treaties, and coordinated efforts to designate terrorist entities. India signals its intention to continue working with global partners to build consensus on counter-terror frameworks. This outward orientation aligns domestic security measures with broader diplomatic efforts to isolate and sanction terrorist actors at multilateral platforms.

Need For Enhanced Coordination

Institutionally, the document calls for enhanced inter-agency coordination, periodic legal reforms, and sustained capacity building of state-level counter-terror units. By placing technology investment and partnerships at the centre of future preparedness, the strategy acknowledges that terrorism is adaptive and that static responses are insufficient.

By embedding prevention, response, legal safeguards, socio-economic engagement and international cooperation within a common framework, the government seeks to project coherence in its counter-terror vision. Whether the policy achieves its ambitious objective of annihilating terrorism will depend on execution, institutional synergy, and the ability to balance security imperatives with democratic values.