Union Home Minister Amit Shah on September 28 called for institutionalising India's PRAHAAR counter-terrorism strategy over the next decade, with a focus on faster response, continuous assessment of threats and stronger coordination among security agencies.
Shah made the remarks while inaugurating the PRAHAAR – CT Policy and Strategy conference in New Delhi. The conference brought together senior officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of External Affairs, central security organisations, state police forces and Anti-Terrorism Squads.
Editorial Insight
Key Highlights
Important points readers should notice.
Issue/Event: Government pushes long-term implementation of the PRAHAAR counter-terrorism strateg
Location: New Delhi.
Authority/Organisation: Ministry of Home Affairs / Government of India.
Action Taken: High-level PRAHAAR conference held; new Extradition Portal launched; agencies asked to strengthen coordinated and automated responses.
Impact: Counter-terrorism coordination is being planned around a longer-term framework extending to state and police-station levels.
The PRAHAAR framework is built around seven pillars: Prevention, Response, Aggregating Internal Capacities, Human Rights, Attenuating Conditions for Terrorism, Aligning International Efforts, and Recovery & Resilience. The framework was first unveiled as India's national counter-terrorism policy and strategy in February 2026.
The latest conference focused on strengthening its implementation and developing a concrete mechanism for the next 10 years.
Shah stressed that the strategy should extend down to the police-station level, with agencies adopting a proactive and result-oriented approach. He also called for an automated counter-terrorism response mechanism and stronger coordination between stakeholders to reduce delays in action.
Editorial Analysis
Why This Matters
Counter-terrorism operations involve multiple agencies, jurisdictions and stages ranging from intelligence collection to investigation, prosecution and international cooperation. The government's latest emphasis is on reducing delays between the identification of a threat and operational response. The Extradition Portal also addresses a separate but connected challenge: coordinating the legal and administrative process required to bring wanted fugitives back when they are located outside India. The effectiveness of these measures will ultimately depend on implementation, inter-agency coordination, legal processes and continued assessment of results.
A key development at the conference was the launch of a new Extradition Portal. According to the government, the platform is intended to bring together relevant agencies and speed up efforts to secure the return of fugitives from abroad.
Shah said that 288 fugitive criminals had been brought back to India from 36 countries between 2019 and 2026. He also highlighted coordinated action against the Shahzad Bhatti network, saying more than 40 modules had been busted, with over 100 FIRs and 350 arrests across 15 states. These figures are government statements presented at the conference.
