The Ministry of Home Affairs presented the country’s first national anti-terrorism policy and strategy PRAHAR on 23 February, 2026.
- This strategy outlines a comprehensive framework to deal with rising terrorist threats by using a proactive approach to prevent and counter terrorist threats.
- This policy is based on seven specific pillars, represented by each letter of this short form.
- It focuses on ‘preventing’ terror attacks; fast and accurate ‘response’; ‘bringing together’ internal capacities for a whole-of-government approach; processes based on ‘human rights’ and rule of law to reduce threats; ‘reducing’ conditions that promote terrorism including radicalisation; ‘bringing together’ international efforts for counter-terrorism; and focusing on ‘recovery’ from a whole-of-society approach.
- Stating that India has been at the forefront of the fight against terrorism, the policy mentions those ‘neighbours’ that use terrorism as a tool of the state, emphasising threats from global terrorist groups such as ISIS and Al-Qaeda along with jihadi organisations.
- The aim of PRAHAR is a graded police response against radicalisation. Indicating the way forward, the policy signals scope for greater cooperation between different agencies in intelligence gathering and investigation.
About strategy ‘PRAHAR’
- The policy emphasises that “India does not associate terrorism with any particular religion, caste, nationality or civilisation.” However, it states that the country has long been affected by “sponsored terrorism” from across the border, in which “jihadi terrorist organisations and their frontal organisations” have been planning, coordinating, assisting and executing terrorist attacks in India.
- Union Home Minister Amit Shah had announced on 7 November, 2024 that a draft of a national counter-terrorism policy and strategy was being prepared to fight terrorism and its ecosystem.
- A national policy and action plan for Left Wing Extremism (LWE) was presented in 2015.
- On 22 April, 2025, after the Pahalgam terror incident, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) held a meeting with anti-terror units of all states and informed them about measures to prevent and pre-empt such attacks.
- It states, “Preventing/stopping terrorists’ attempts to access and use CBRNED (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosive, Digital) material remains a challenge for counter-terrorism (CT) agencies.
