The Union Ministry of Home Affairs on Monday unveiled India's first comprehensive national counter-terrorism policy, christened "PRAHAAR," laying out a wide-ranging framework to combat evolving security threats — from cross-border terrorism and cyber warfare to the misuse of drones, dark web financing, and CBRNED materials.

The strategy document, published on the MHA's official website, maps India's threat landscape across land, water, and air. It explicitly names global terror outfits Al-Qaeda and ISIS as groups that have sought to incite violence within India through sleeper cells, while flagging that Jihadi terror outfits and their frontal organisations — sponsored from across the border — continue to plan and execute attacks on Indian soil.

On the technological front, the policy raises alarm over the increasing use of drones by handlers across the border, particularly in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir, as well as the exploitation of social media platforms, encrypted messaging apps, the dark web, and cryptocurrency wallets for propaganda, funding, and operational coordination. "Disrupting and intercepting terrorist efforts to access CBRNED material remains a challenge for counter-terrorism agencies," the document states.

The policy also highlights a growing convergence between terror groups and organised criminal networks, with the latter being increasingly used for logistics and recruitment purposes.

PRAHAAR devotes considerable attention to the threat of domestic radicalisation, noting that terror groups continue to actively target Indian youth for recruitment. The policy outlines a graded police response for identified individuals based on their level of radicalisation, complemented by de-radicalisation programmes and targeted interventions within prison systems to prevent the spread of extremist ideology among vulnerable inmates.

Community-based counter-radicalisation is also central to the framework, with moderate religious leaders, preachers, and NGOs being engaged to spread awareness about the consequences of extremism.

To strengthen prosecution outcomes, the MHA has recommended embedding legal experts at every stage of investigation — from the registration of FIRs through to trial — ensuring that cases against terror perpetrators are watertight from the outset.

The policy also underscores that domestic counter-terrorism efforts alone are insufficient, calling for enhanced international and regional cooperation to tackle transnational terrorism. It notes that foreign-based groups are increasingly leveraging local infrastructure, terrain knowledge, and logistical networks to carry out attacks — making cross-border intelligence sharing more critical than ever.

In a significant policy position, PRAHAAR explicitly states that "India does not link terrorism to any specific religion, ethnicity, nationality or civilisation" — framing the country's counter-terror approach as universal and non-discriminatory.