MHA Unveils PRAHAAR, India’s First National Counter-Terrorism Policy and Strategy
India has put in place its first comprehensive National Counter Terrorism Policy and Strategy, named PRAHAAR, as the Ministry of Home Affairs moves to create an integrated national framework for preventing terror attacks, improving response mechanisms and addressing radicalisation. The policy was unveiled on February 23, 2026, and its details were later shared in the Rajya Sabha by Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai in a written reply on August 12, 2026.
PRAHAAR is designed as a nationwide framework that brings together the Centre and the states, intelligence agencies, security forces, law-enforcement bodies and communities under what the government describes as a “whole-of-government” and “whole-of-society” approach. The intention is to reduce fragmentation in India’s counter-terror architecture by linking prevention, intelligence, operational response, financial disruption and long-term resilience within a single strategy.
The policy rests on seven core pillars. These cover the prevention of terror attacks, swift and proportionate responses to incidents, aggregation of internal capabilities, protection of human rights and the rule of law, countering conditions conducive to terrorism, international counter-terrorism cooperation, and recovery and resilience through a whole-of-society approach.
One of the central aims of PRAHAAR is to shift India towards a more proactive, intelligence-led counter-terror posture. A key instrument in that effort is the strengthening of real-time intelligence sharing through the Multi Agency Centre, or MAC. By improving the flow of information between agencies, the framework seeks to ensure earlier detection of threats and more coordinated responses when risks emerge.
The strategy also places clear emphasis on response preparedness, particularly in major incidents. It calls for the protection of critical infrastructure and for a coordinated response chain linking state police forces with specialised central units such as the National Security Guard. The objective is to reduce delays in mobilisation and improve operational coordination during serious terrorist situations.
Technology forms another major component of the policy. Under PRAHAAR, advanced technological tools are to be used more extensively for intelligence gathering, surveillance, investigation and operational response. At the same time, the framework explicitly retains safeguards related to human rights and the rule of law, indicating that the wider use of technology is intended to operate within legal and constitutional boundaries.
Beyond immediate security operations, the policy incorporates counter-radicalisation into the national counter-terror framework. The government has said PRAHAAR will seek to address conditions that contribute to radicalisation through community-oriented initiatives and collaborative mechanisms. The broader goal is to weaken the ecosystem that sustains or enables terrorism, rather than focusing only on attack response after threats have already matured.
Financial disruption is another prominent element of the strategy. PRAHAAR targets terrorist financing networks, including those using newer digital channels. The measures outlined include tracing cryptocurrency wallets, disrupting illicit fundraising on the dark web and seizing terror-linked assets through competent central agencies. This reflects an effort to adapt counter-terror financing tools to methods increasingly used to move, conceal or raise funds outside conventional channels.
The government has also linked these efforts to international standards. India’s counter-terror financing measures under PRAHAAR are intended to remain aligned with Financial Action Task Force norms and with international cooperation mechanisms. In practical terms, the policy seeks to improve the capacity of Indian agencies to act against cross-border and state-sponsored terror financing networks, an area that has long been central to India’s security concerns.
Implementation of the strategy is to be phased rather than immediate across all components. According to the government, PRAHAAR will be rolled out progressively, with priority given to institutional and systems integration. Its effectiveness is to be measured through layered monitoring and oversight mechanisms, suggesting that review and course correction will be built into the process as the framework develops.
One of the important review platforms identified by the government is the annual Anti-Terror Conference organised by the National Investigation Agency under the aegis of the Ministry of Home Affairs. The conference brings together senior representatives from law-enforcement agencies, intelligence organisations, security forces, policymakers and the legal community.
That forum is expected to serve as a recurring mechanism to assess the implementation and effectiveness of PRAHAAR. It is intended to examine existing counter-terror measures, identify operational and administrative gaps, and recommend policy, legal and institutional reforms. The government has said such assessments will help India’s counter-terror framework evolve continuously in response to what it describes as an increasingly dynamic security environment.
In effect, PRAHAAR seeks to bring multiple strands of India’s security response into a unified policy structure: prevention, intelligence sharing, rapid response, critical infrastructure protection, technological capability, counter-radicalisation, financial disruption, international cooperation and social resilience. By formally integrating these elements into a single national strategy, the Ministry of Home Affairs has outlined a model intended to improve coordination across agencies while broadening the country’s approach beyond reactive counter-terror operations alone.
