Overview
- Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan said at the IPS passing-out parade on Saturday that India’s conventional internal security threats have receded and the country’s threat landscape has changed irrevocably.
- Mohan identified five emerging challenges—narcotics, cybercrime, terrorism, illegal immigration and anonymised digital crime—and named narcotics the foremost threat, citing a 2019 survey that estimated about 7% of the population used narcotics.
- Officials warned that cybercrime is now accessible to low-skilled actors because of fake SIM cards, mule bank accounts and simple fraud tools, and that criminals use VPNs, the dark web and cryptocurrency to hide identities and move money.
- The Centre is accelerating tech-driven policing with a Smart Border initiative, an AI network for young IPS officers and calls for closer BIMSTEC cooperation, and it says state and UT police will lead most cyber operations on the ground.
- Long-running counterinsurgency measures have largely ended militant Naxalism and reduced Northeast insurgency, but recent incidents such as the Red Fort blast show terrorism persists in pockets and will keep emphasis on better intelligence coordination and local policing.