Terrorism is a global scourge. How has it manifested in India? Elaborate with contemporary examples. What are the counter measures adopted by the State? Explain.
Approach · directive: “how / elaborate / explain”
What it asks · Show the forms terrorism has taken in India with recent examples, then explain the State’s legal, institutional, operational and diplomatic responses.
It asks 2 things — answer each
- Elaborate how terrorism has manifested in India, with contemporary examples
- Explain the counter-measures adopted by the State — legal, institutional, operational and diplomatic
Open with · The Pahalgam attack of 22 April 2025, which killed 26 people, mostly tourists, showed terrorism remains India's most persistent threat, faced in nearly every form: cross-border, separatist, left-wing and urban.
Cover
- Cross-border, state-sponsored terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir: the Pahalgam attack of 22 April 2025 killed 26 people, mostly tourists.
- Radicalisation and modules: online recruitment, ISIS-inspired cells and IED plots in the hinterland; lone actors are hard to detect.
- Narco-terror and financing: drones dropping arms and drugs across the Punjab border, hawala, fake currency, crypto-assets.
- Insurgency-linked violence in parts of the North-East and Maoist violence in central India, now sharply reduced.
- Legal and institutional: UAPA (2019 amendment allows designating individuals), NIA Act amendment (2019), PMLA, NATGRID, Multi-Agency Centre, NSG hubs.
- Operational: intelligence-led operations and border fencing; Operation Sindoor (May 2025) struck terror infrastructure across the border after Pahalgam.
- Diplomatic and social: FATF pressure on terror financing, UN listings, ‘No Money for Terror’, deradicalisation and community policing.
Close with · Zero tolerance must pair hard security with intelligence, financial tracking and social resilience, and the global legal consensus India seeks through the CCIT, building the peaceful and inclusive societies SDG 16 envisages.
Add value (verified)
- On 7 May 2025 the armed forces launched Operation Sindoor against nine terror sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.PIB, Ministry of Defence — Operation Sindoor: precision strike at terrorist camps (7 May 2025) ↗“the Indian Armed Forces launched ‘OPERATION SINDOOR’, hitting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir from where terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed. Altogether, nine (9) sites have been targeted.”
- India proposed the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) at the UN General Assembly in 1996.Permanent Mission of India to the UN, New York — statement at the UNGA Sixth Committee ↗“we would like to remind that in 1996 India brought the proposal of a Comprehensive Convention against Terrorism (CCIT) before forward the General Assembly. It was aimed at strengthening the international legal framework”
- Government reply in Parliament (December 2024): the NIA's conviction rate stands at 95.23% (national newspaper report).Deccan Herald, December 2024 — NIA records conviction rate of 95.23%: Govt (newspaper report of a parliamentary reply) ↗“NIA records conviction rate of 95.23%: Govt Responding to a question, Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai said 109 cases of the anti-terror agency are under "active investigation"”
- SDG 16 in the UN's official wording.United Nations, Sustainable Development Goals — Goal 16 ↗“Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels”
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2025, GS Paper III — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 3 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer· 223words · Minimalist IAS
The Pahalgam attack of 22 April 2025, which killed 26 people, mostly tourists, showed terrorism remains India's most persistent threat, faced in nearly every form: cross-border, separatist, left-wing and urban.
How terrorism has manifested in India
- Cross-border, state-sponsored terror in Jammu and Kashmir, from infiltration to attacks on civilians like Pahalgam.
- Radicalisation and modules: online recruitment, ISIS-inspired cells and IED plots.
- Narco-terror and financing: drones dropping arms and drugs across the Punjab border; hawala, fake currency and crypto-assets.
- Insurgency-linked violence in the North-East and Maoist violence in central India, now sharply reduced.
Counter-measures adopted by the State
- Legal: UAPA, amended in 2019 to designate individuals as terrorists; the 2019 NIA Act amendment; PMLA against terror finance.
- Institutional: the NIA, with a reported 95.23% conviction rate (Deccan Herald, on a December 2024 Government reply); the Multi-Agency Centre, NATGRID and NSG hubs.
- Operational: intelligence-led operations and border fencing; Operation Sindoor (7 May 2025) struck nine terror sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
- Diplomatic and social: FATF pressure, UN listings and 'No Money for Terror'; India has pressed since 1996 for a UN Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT); deradicalisation at home.
Zero tolerance must pair hard security with intelligence, financial tracking and social resilience, and the global legal consensus India seeks through the CCIT, building the 'peaceful and inclusive societies' SDG 16 envisages.
Prepared by Minimalist IAS to the answer standard of Shivam Singh (mentor, 7 years) · facts checked against official sources (how we verify) · updated 3 Oct 2026. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.
