Identify, eliminate threats before they grow big: Amit Shah urges security agencies

Home Minister Amit Shah's recent directive to security agencies marks a significant articulation of India's evolving national security doctrine in the face of complex hybrid threats. Speaking at a high-level security review, Shah emphasized that India's security policy must be framed keeping in view emerging global challenges including geopolitical instability, energy and resource insecurity, rising radicalisation, and cyber misinformation campaigns. This statement comes against the backdrop of a rapidly transforming security landscape where traditional military threats are increasingly supplemented by non-kinetic, asymmetric challenges. The historical context is crucial. Since independence, India's security architecture has been shaped by conventional wars (1962, 1965, 1971, 1999) and persistent cross-border terrorism. However, the 2008 Mumbai attacks (26/11) exposed critical gaps in intelligence sharing and coastal security, leading to the creation of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in 2009 under the NIA Act, 2008, and the strengthening of the Multi-Agency Centre (MAC) under the Intelligence Bureau. The 2019 Pulwama attack and subsequent Balakot strikes further underscored the need for proactive intelligence and pre-emptive action. Key stakeholders in this evolving framework include the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) as the nodal ministry for internal security, the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) headed by the National Security Advisor (NSA), the Intelligence Bureau (IB) for domestic intelligence, the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) for external intelligence, the NIA for counter-terrorism investigations, and state police forces. The Cyber and Information Security Division (CISD) under MHA and the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) under MeitY are critical for addressing cyber threats. The Defence Cyber Agency (DCA) and the proposed National Cyber Security Strategy 2020 further institutionalise cyber defence. The significance for India is multi-dimensional. Geopolitical instability — from the Russia-Ukraine war to tensions in the Taiwan Strait and the India-China border standoff since April 2020 — directly impacts India's strategic autonomy and defence preparedness. Energy and resource insecurity is acute: India imports over 85% of its crude oil and significant critical minerals, making supply chain resilience a national security imperative. Rising radicalisation, particularly through online propaganda, threatens social cohesion; the MHA has banned over 40 organisations under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), 1967, including recent designations of factions of the Popular Front of India (PFI) in 2022. Cyber misinformation campaigns, often state-sponsored, target electoral integrity, public order, and strategic narratives — the 2023 Digital Personal Data Protection Act and the IT (Intermediary Guidelines) Rules, 2021 aim to regulate this space. Constitutionally, Article 355 mandates the Union to protect states against external aggression and internal disturbance. Article 356 (President's Rule) and Article 245-246 (legislative relations) underpin Centre-state coordination in security matters. The Seventh Schedule places 'Public Order' and 'Police' in the State List (Entries 1 and 2), while 'Defence', 'Armed Forces', and 'Central Bureau of Intelligence and Investigation' fall in the Union List (Entries 1, 2, 8). The NIA Act, 2008, amended in 2019, empowers the NIA to investigate scheduled offences across states without state consent, a critical tool for federal counter-terrorism. Broader themes connect this to governance (cooperative federalism in security), economy (defence indigenisation under Atmanirbhar Bharat, critical mineral security), and international relations (Quad, SCO, Indo-Pacific partnerships for intelligence sharing). The National Security Strategy (NSS), currently under formulation, will codify these priorities. Future implications include deeper integration of AI and big data in intelligence (the NATGRID project, operationalised in phases since 2021), expansion of the NIA's mandate to include cyber-crime and human trafficking, and greater emphasis on strategic communication to counter misinformation. The creation of a dedicated Cyber Command and the operationalisation of the National Cyber Security Strategy remain key milestones. For aspirants, understanding this shift from reactive to proactive, intelligence-led security is essential for GS Paper III (Internal Security), Essay, and Interview.