India
National Anti-Terror Plan for Central Government Agencies to Come by 2025: Shah – Times of India
Speaking at an anti-terrorism conference organized by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) here, Shah told senior officers of various counter-terrorism agencies that they all “must work together to fight terrorism, terrorists and their ecosystem”.
“MHA, as part of its proactive approach, is ready for the next step. In a few months, we will release a national counter-terrorism policy and strategy in which your role will be important,” he shared. them.
Shah said that while the Center and the MHA can prepare policy and strategy documents and also implement their own roles, since law and order is a ‘state’ subject, the real fight against terror has to be fought by the state police. “All central agencies will support the states in all possible ways, from intelligence gathering to taking action. But until one group is created with a ‘zero tolerance to terror’ mood, the national counter-terrorism policy and strategy cannot succeed,” he underlined. , as they fight for a “whole of government” approach.
The Home Minister sought to impress on the need for states to work in close coordination both among themselves and with the central agencies, saying that while states may have geographical and constitutional limitations, terror operations transcend inter-state and global boundaries . He asked Thanas to be anti-terror ready by training their officers in using artificial intelligence to analyze various police/criminal databases, including that of NIA. The NIA must move from a ‘need to know’ approach to a ‘need to share’ and ultimately a ‘duty to share’ approach.
“To deal with new challenges, such as terror financing and cryptoThere must be a coordinated approach from the police stations to the DGP office,” said Shah.
He said the government has come up with a proposal model anti-terrorism team (ATS), a model Special Task Force (STF) and a model Police Training Manual for the States and Union Territories, which, if adopted, will work as a common structure and platform to tackle the menace of terrorism.
“The SOPs can be modified by the states as per their requirements. Coordination through ATS and STF does not undermine the federal rights of states,” Shah assured.
The Home Minister reminded the police officers of Prime Minister Modi’s goal of making India a developed power by 2047 and said there would be security challenges along the way. He urged to tackle the terror ecosystem with a united anti-terror ecosystem.
Shah said that in the last decade in power, the Modi government had adopted a zero-tolerance approach and had cracked down on both terror and terrorist financing. The improved security situation was clearly visible as the number of terrorist incidents had decreased by 70% compared to the previous 10 years.
Shah asked DGP-rank officers present at the conference to invoke the Unlawful Activity (Prevention) Act (UAPA) to tackle terror. He said that NIA has filed charges in 498 of the 632 cases registered by it, with the conviction rate being almost 95%.
