Union Home Minister Amit Shah has called for a proactive approach to India's internal and national security, saying security agencies must identify emerging threats early and develop strategies to prevent them from becoming larger challenges.
Addressing the concluding session of the 9th National Security Strategies Conference 2026 in New Delhi on August 25, Shah said the country's security planning must take into account developments over the next 15 to 20 years rather than responding only after threats emerge.
Editorial Insight
Key Highlights
Important points readers should notice.
From reaction to prevention: The biggest message from the conference is the push to detect security threats before they become crises. This is particularly important when threats can move rapidly across physical, digital and financial networks.
AI changes the intelligence equation: India already generates enormous volumes of intelligence and security data. The bigger challenge is identifying connections hidden inside that information. AI can potentially help agencies detect patterns faster, but its effectiveness will depend on data quality, inter-agency sharing and human verification.
Border security is no longer only about borders: Infiltration, narcotics networks, terrorism, drones, cyber operations and illegal financial networks can overlap. This makes coordination between border forces, intelligence agencies, state police and central agencies increasingly important.
Economic security is national security: Energy insecurity and supply-chain disruption were placed alongside traditional security threats. That reflects a broader reality: a major disruption today can affect industry, transport, prices and essential services without a single shot being fired.
The real test is implementation: A long-term strategy matters only when it reaches the operational level. The success of this approach will ultimately depend on whether intelligence sharing, AI tools, border coordination and counter-terror mechanisms translate into faster detection and prevention on the ground.
He said India's security environment is being shaped by global instability, energy and resource insecurity, disruptions in supply chains, rising radicalisation and the growing threat of cyber-misinformation. The two-day conference brought together more than 850 participants, including senior officials from the Intelligence Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs, Central Armed Police Forces, central police organisations and state police forces. Young police officers and specialists from different fields also participated virtually.
Shah also called for stronger action against infiltration and said the government was working towards making India free of illegal infiltration. He said he had visited all states sharing India's land borders during the previous eight months and shared a quadrangular border-security approach with them.
On counter-terrorism, the Home Minister stressed effective implementation of the government's PRAHAAR framework against terrorism and radicalisation. He called for greater training, faster investigation and prosecution, bringing fugitives back to India and using provisions for trials in absentia where applicable.
Editorial Analysis
Why This Matters
India's security environment is becoming increasingly interconnected. A cyberattack can affect infrastructure, misinformation can create social instability, supply-chain disruptions can affect industry and illegal networks can intersect with terrorism and organised crime. The challenge for policymakers is therefore moving from "How do we respond?" to "How early can we detect and prevent?" That is the central significance of the strategy outlined at the NSS Conference.
Technology was another major component of the security strategy. Shah directed agencies to use artificial-intelligence-based analysis of information available through the Multi-Agency Centre (MAC) to develop standard operating procedures for dealing with emerging national-security threats. The conference also examined counter-terrorism, narcotics control, cybercrime, information warfare, proxy warfare, illegal migration and intelligence coordination. The second day included discussions on sub-aerial threats, blue-economy security and biosecurity.
Shah's remarks come alongside the government's push to fully implement India's three new criminal laws. He has set a one-year deadline for 100 per cent implementation, with the stated objective of enabling criminal cases to be resolved up to the Supreme Court within three years and increasing the conviction rate by 25 per cent.
The three laws — the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam — replaced the country's principal colonial-era criminal-law framework and came into force on July 1, 2024.
