Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah addressed the valedictory session of the Intelligence Bureau's 'National Security Strategies Conference' in New Delhi today
The Intelligence Bureau's National Security Strategies Conference (NSSC) concluded its valedictory session in New Delhi, bringing together central agencies, Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs), and state police leadership to review internal security strategy
The conference set a one-year target for 100% implementation of the three new criminal laws — the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA) — with an aim to raise the criminal conviction rate by 25% and dispose of cases up to the Supreme Court within three years
A "quadrangular" border security approach was outlined for coordination among land border states, alongside continued implementation of the Narcotics Control Vision Document (2026–2029)
The integration of national crime and intelligence databases — CCTNS, ICJS, NATGRID and NAFIS — into a unified data bank was highlighted as a tool for AI-assisted, intelligence-led policing
The forum reviewed the 2022 action against the Popular Front of India (PFI) as a case study in centre-state coordination on banning unlawful associations
The three new criminal laws — BNS, BNSS, BSA (2023)
Parliament replaced India's three foundational criminal statutes — the Indian Penal Code (1860), the Code of Criminal Procedure (1973), and the Indian Evidence Act (1872) — with the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, all of which came into force on 1 July 2024.
Key Details
- BNS replaces the IPC (substantive offences); BNSS replaces the CrPC (criminal procedure); BSA replaces the Indian Evidence Act (rules of evidence)
- The laws were passed by Parliament in December 2023 after examination by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs
- BNSS mandates statutory timelines, including a requirement that judgments be pronounced within 45 days of trial completion in many cases, and provisions for forensic investigation to be mandatory for offences punishable with 7+ years imprisonment
- Transitional application: offences committed before 1 July 2024 continue to be investigated and tried under the old IPC/CrPC/Evidence Act framework
The conference's target of full nationwide implementation within a year and a 25% higher conviction rate refers to operationalising the new codes' timeline and forensic mandates across all states, since criminal procedure and police are State List/Concurrent List subjects requiring state-level rollout.
Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 — banning associations
The UAPA is India's principal anti-terrorism statute, empowering the central government to declare an organisation an "unlawful association" or a "terrorist organisation," distinct from banning an individual.
Key Details
- Under Section 3 of UAPA, the central government can declare an association unlawful for an initial period, referred to an Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Tribunal (headed by a High Court judge) for confirmation within six months
- The Popular Front of India (PFI) and its affiliates were declared an unlawful association in September 2022 for five years, under UAPA, following a coordinated multi-state crackdown
- The 2019 UAPA amendment empowered the government to designate individuals (not just organisations) as terrorists — upheld against constitutional challenge, with listed individuals given a statutory route to seek de-notification
- Centre-state coordination is essential for enforcement since "public order" and "police" are State List subjects, while UAPA itself is a Union law enacted under the Concurrent List entry on criminal law
The PFI action was cited as a model of simultaneous multi-state enforcement under central legal authority — a recurring internal security theme of centre-state coordination within India's federal division of policing powers.
National security data integration — CCTNS, ICJS, NATGRID, NAFIS
India has built multiple digital backbones for criminal justice and intelligence sharing over the past two decades, moving from agency-specific silos toward interoperable, integrated databases.
Key Details
- CCTNS (Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems) digitises police station-level FIR and crime records nationwide, under the Ministry of Home Affairs/NCRB
- ICJS (Inter-operable Criminal Justice System) links the five pillars of criminal justice — police (CCTNS), courts (e-Courts), prisons (e-Prisons), prosecution (e-Prosecution), and forensics (e-Forensics)
- NATGRID (National Intelligence Grid) was conceived after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks (2008) to give designated security agencies access to pooled data — bank, tax, travel, and telecom records — held in separate agency databases
- NAFIS (National Automated Fingerprint Identification System), run by the NCRB, is a nationwide searchable fingerprint database for identifying repeat offenders across states
- The Multi Agency Centre (MAC), housed in the Intelligence Bureau, was set up in December 2001 on the recommendation of the Kargil Review Committee and reorganised after 26/11 to function as a 24x7 hub coordinating around 28 central and state agencies
The conference's call for integrating CCTNS, ICJS, NATGRID and NAFIS into a common data bank, with AI-driven analysis, reflects the continuing post-Kargil/post-26/11 institutional reform trajectory of moving from siloed to networked intelligence architecture.
PRAHAAR — National Counter-Terrorism Policy and Strategy
PRAHAAR is India's first consolidated national counter-terrorism policy and strategy, released by the Ministry of Home Affairs in February 2026, integrating counter-terrorism, counter-radicalisation, cybersecurity and coordinated response into one framework.
Key Details
- PRAHAAR is structured around seven pillars, including prevention, proportionate response, a whole-of-government approach, human-rights-compliant processes, addressing radicalisation, aligning international cooperation, and post-incident recovery/resilience
- It explicitly addresses newer threats: the nexus between arms smuggling and terror financing, convergence of terror networks with organised crime, and use of encrypted platforms/dark web/cryptocurrency for radicalisation and funding
- It builds on India's pre-existing counter-terror legal architecture — UAPA (1967), NIA Act (2008), and institutions like NATGRID and the NIA
The conference's call to move the "360-degree" dismantling of terrorist networks "from document to practice" refers to operationalising PRAHAAR's seven pillars at the state and CAPF level.
Narcotics Control Vision Document (2026–2029)
The Vision Document on Narcotics Control (2026–2029) is a national roadmap released in mid-2026, alongside the NCB Annual Report 2025, structured around demand-reduction, supply-reduction and harm-reduction, with a shift from targeting individual carriers to dismantling entire trafficking networks.
Key Details
- Anchored on a "Detect, Disrupt, Destroy" strategy for a three-pronged enforcement approach
- Sets a mission-mode target of identifying and dismantling 100 major interstate/transnational drug cartels through intelligence-led operations
- Envisages advanced surveillance tools — anti-drone systems, AI-enabled profiling, container scanning at land, sea and air entry points
- Coordinated through NCORD (Narco-Coordination Centre), the apex inter-ministerial mechanism chaired at the Union Home Ministry level, with state-level NCORD units for implementation
The conference asked state police forces to operationalise the Vision Document "on the ground," reinforcing NCORD's federal coordination role between the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), state police, and central enforcement agencies.
- Three new criminal laws (BNS, BNSS, BSA) in force since 1 July 2024, replacing IPC (1860), CrPC (1973), and Indian Evidence Act (1872)
- Target cited: full implementation of the new codes within one year and a 25% increase in conviction rate; case disposal up to the Supreme Court within three years
- PFI and affiliates declared an unlawful association under UAPA Section 3 in September 2022, for five years
- Multi Agency Centre (MAC) established December 2001 (post-Kargil Review Committee); reorganised after the 2008 Mumbai attacks; coordinates roughly 28 agencies
- NATGRID conceived after the 26/11 (2008) Mumbai attacks
- Narcotics Control Vision Document (2026–2029) targets dismantling of 100 major drug cartels via a "Detect, Disrupt, Destroy" approach
- PRAHAAR, India's first national counter-terrorism policy and strategy, was released by the Ministry of Home Affairs in February 2026, structured around seven pillars
- 274 fugitives were reported extradited/brought back to India between 2019 and 2026