National Anti Terror Plan: Central and State Agencies Set for 2025, Says Home Minister Amit Shah

NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Home Affairs is formulating a national counter-terrorism policy and strategy that would bring in one and zero-tolerance approach by different central and state agencies. This was announced by Home Minister Amit Shah during the conference on anti-terrorism organised by National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday, where he said that the document would be released in 2025.

Shah underscored the imperative need for cooperation between all counter-terrorism agencies with each other to defeat the evil of terrorism and to demolish its support structures. He said, "The MHA is willing to take proactive steps forward, and within the next months, we will introduce a comprehensive national counter-terrorism strategy in which your roles will be pivotal."

He agreed that although the Centre and MHA can frame policies, the fight against terror still lies largely in the realm of states. He asked for greater leadership from state police forces with active support from central agencies in intelligence collection and operational activities. "An integrated team with an agenda of zero tolerance towards terror is what this policy calls for," he mentioned from a whole-of-government perspective.

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Shah called for greater coordination between states and agencies at the centre, said states have geographical and constitutional constraints but terrorism often does not. The local police stations must be prepared to take on anti-terror efforts by training officers to use artificial intelligence in analyzing police and criminal data bases maintained by agencies like the NIA. He recommended the "need to know" must give way to a "duty to share" approach in sharing information.

On challenges of terror financing and cryptocurrency, he has pressed for an integrated response at all levels-law enforcement, from the police station level up to offices of the Director General of Police.

The government has developed a model ATS, a model STF, and a model police training manual for the states and Union Territories. Shah assured that these frameworks will create only a common structure to combat terrorism and assured states that SOPs can be individually adapted or modified as needed, in ways that do not hurt state rights.

Reflecting on the vision that the Prime Minister has for India to be a developed nation by 2047, he said there were security challenges ahead and that this terror ecosystem needs to be faced with a united force. He also talked about how the government's zero-tolerance policy over the last decade helped reduce terror incidents by 70% compared with the previous decade.

He appealed to DGP-ranked officers present in the conference to tap into that Act for effective combat against terrorism. He also said the NIA had filed charge sheets in 498 out of the 632 cases it had registered and boasted a conviction rate of nearly 95 percent.