Terrorism now ‘borderless and invisible’, needs cutting-edge tech: Amit Shah at Anti-Terror Conference

Union Home Minister Amit Shah warned against “borderless and invisible” terror threats and stressed the need for cutting-edge technology to deal with them effectively.

Speaking at the inaugural session of ‘Anti-Terror Conference-2024’, Shah said, “The terrorist attacks and their conspiracy are against us in a borderless and invisible manner. If we have to deal with it accurately, then our young officers will have to be equipped with the highest technology, they will have to be trained. We will make it an important part of the training in the coming days.”

Shah announced that the Ministry of Home Affairs is taking the next step in its proactive approach to combat terrorism and will come up with a National Counter Terrorism Policy and Strategy.

“We are taking the next step in the proactive approach that the Home Ministry has made to fight terrorism, terrorists and the terrorism ecosystem. We will come up with a National Counter Terrorism Policy and Strategy,” he said.

“But as I said, police is a state subject and the fight will have to be done by the state police only. All the (central) agencies will support you, from giving information to taking action,” Shah added.

Shah said Prime Minister Modi’s zero-tolerance policy towards terrorism is now accepted globally and the country has built a strong ecosystem to deal with it.

“75 years of independence have passed. Till now, 36,468 police personnel have sacrificed their lives to maintain the internal security and security of the borders of the country. I want to pay tribute to all of them today for their spirit of making the supreme sacrifice and also thank their families on behalf of the country. Within 10 years after PM Modi became the Prime Minister of the country, the Government of India followed a solid strategy against terrorism. His slogan of zero tolerance against terrorism has been accepted not only by India but the entire world today. A strong ecosystem to fight against terrorism has been created within India,” he said.

The two-day ‘Anti-Terror Conference-2024’ is organized by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) under the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The key focus of the conference is on developing synergies among various stake holders by establishing channels for coordinated action against the menace of terrorism in the spirit of ‘Whole of the Government approach’ and to present substantive inputs for future policy formulation, as per a Ministry of Home Affairs release.

The deliberations and discussions in the two-day conference will be focused on various matters of importance including prosecution and evolving legal framework in counter-terrorism investigations, sharing of experiences and good practices, challenges and opportunities related to emerging technologies, international legal cooperation and strategies for dismantling terror ecosystem in various counter terrorism theatres across India, as per Ministry of Home Affairs.

The conference is being attended by senior police officers from States/UTs, officers from Central agencies/Departments dealing with issues related to Counter Terrorism and experts from related fields such as law, forensics, technology etc, Ministry of Home Affairs said in the release.