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GS Paper III

Mains · GS Paper III · 20 questions

External actors & internal security

Every question UPSC has set on this line of the GS Paper III syllabus, newest first — with an approach for each.

Questions per year: 2016: 0, 2017: 2, 2018: 0, 2019: 2, 2020: 0, 2021: 1, 2022: 0, 2023: 0, 2024: 1, 2025: 1, 2026: 1 Asked in 6 of 11 years

UPSC syllabus (verbatim): “Role of external state and non-state actors in creating challenges to internal security.” Sub-topics in the detailed syllabus →

2026

GS Paper III 2026 · Q19

15 marks · 250 words X-Ray · Core #54

Separatist movements have been one of the major factors contributing to militancy and instability in Jammu & Kashmir (J & K). Bring out actions taken by the Government to bring J & K into national mainstream. Discuss pre and post abrogation status of Articles 370 and 35A. Also bring out positive impacts of abrogation of both articles in mainstreaming the state.

🧭 How to think about this question · directive: “bring out / discuss”

Decode the demand

  • Three directives, three parts: 'bring out' the government's mainstreaming actions (with separatism as the backdrop), 'discuss' the status of Articles 370 and 35A before and after 2019, and 'bring out' the positive impacts. Each gets its own heading in the question's own words.
  • The trap: writing a political essay for or against abrogation. The examiner wants the constitutional mechanics (what each Article did, how it was removed, what the Supreme Court held) and verified outcomes, not opinion.
  • Carry data: one terror-incident figure before and after, one tourism figure, the Reorganisation Act, the December 2023 verdict; name the NCERT framing of J&K's instability.

Think in a structure

  • Open with the NCERT line that special status did not prevent violence, then the two dates that frame the answer: 1989 and 5 August 2019.
  • Actions as a hub: security, legal, democratic and development spokes; one real instance per spoke.
  • Articles 370 and 35A as a before/after table, then one point each on the legal route taken and the Supreme Court's holding.
  • Impacts in dimensions: legal equality, security, democracy, economy; then an honest caveat so the 'discuss' is balanced.
  • End positively: what remains to be done (statehood, dialogue, jobs), anchored on the Preamble's promise of unity and integrity.
Facts checked at source (4)· open

Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2026, GS Paper III — paper ↗. Guidance: Minimalist IAS, checked 8 Nov 2026 (how we verify). ·

Model answer· 615words · Minimalist IAS

NCERT records that despite its special status under Article 370, J&K 'experienced violence, cross border terrorism and political instability'. Separatist politics backed from across the border fed militancy from 1989 until Parliament ended the special status on 5 August 2019, a step the Supreme Court upheld in December 2023. The three parts below follow that arc.

Separatism, militancy and the actions to bring J&K into the mainstream

  • Separatist politics as fuel: Hurriyat-led boycotts, cross-border terror and radicalisation made shutdowns and stone-pelting a cycle that kept youth outside democratic politics.
Counter-terrorgridNIAterror-fundingcasesUAPA bans onoutfitsPM'sDevelopmentPackageBack to VillagecampsPanchayat andDDC pollsYouth skillingMainstreamingactions

Mainstreaming actions: Counter-terror grid; NIA terror-funding cases; UAPA bans on outfits; PM's Development Package; Back to Village camps; Panchayat and DDC polls; Youth skilling

  • Security first: sustained counter-terror operations and border domination shrank militant space, the precondition for every other step.
  • Choking the ecosystem: NIA cases on terror funding and bans on separatist outfits under the UAPA cut the money and organisation behind unrest.
  • Democracy from below: panchayat and District Development Council elections took decisions to villages and offered the young a lawful route to power.
  • Development outreach: the PM's Development Package, 'Back to Village' camps and skilling tied livelihoods to the Union, as the 2nd ARC's conflict-resolution report advised.

The full answer goes on to cover

  1. Articles 370 and 35A: pre and post abrogation status
  2. Positive impacts of abrogation in mainstreaming the region
  3. Way forward

With 1 table you can reproduce in the exam.

Read the full model answer (615 words) →

Prepared by Minimalist IAS to the answer standard of Shivam Singh (mentor, 7 years) · facts checked against official sources (how we verify) · updated 8 Nov 2026. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.

2025

GS Paper III 2025 · Q9

10 marks · 150 words X-Ray · Core #54

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

  1. Elaborate how terrorism has manifested in India, with contemporary examples
  2. 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.

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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.

The full answer goes on to cover

  1. Counter-measures adopted by the State

Read the full model answer (223 words) →

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.

GS Paper III 2025 · Q19

15 marks · 250 words

What are the major challenges to internal security and peace process in the North-Eastern States? Map the various peace accords and agreements initiated by the government in the past decade.

Approach · directive: “what / map”

What it asks · Identify the drivers of insecurity in the North-East and chart the peace accords of roughly 2015–2025, with what remains unfinished.

It asks 2 things — answer each

  1. Identify the major challenges to internal security and the peace process in the North-Eastern States
  2. Map the peace accords and agreements initiated by the government in the past decade (2015–2025), with what remains unfinished

Open with · Insurgency incidents in the North-East fell 64% between 2014 and 2024, security-force casualties 85% and civilian deaths 86% (MHA Annual Report 2025-26); yet 294 incidents in 2024, mostly from ethnic strife in Manipur, show how fragile peace remains.

Cover

  • Ethnic insurgencies and inter-ethnic conflict — Naga, Kuki and Meitei groups; the Manipur violence since May 2023.
  • Porous Myanmar border and the Free Movement Regime; camps across the border; arms and drug trafficking from the Golden Triangle; illegal migration.
  • Trust deficit: AFSPA and human-rights concerns, extortion economies, unemployment feeding recruitment; inter-State boundary disputes.
  • Accords (Tripura–Mizoram): Naga Framework Agreement (2015); NLFT (2019) and NLFT–ATTF (2024); Bru–Reang resettlement (2020).
  • Accords (Assam): Bodo Accord (2020), Karbi Anglong (2021), Adivasi groups (2022), DNLA (2023), ULFA pro-talks faction (2023).
  • Boundaries and AFSPA: Assam–Meghalaya (2022) and Assam–Arunachal (2023) agreements; ‘disturbed areas’ under AFSPA reduced since 2022.
  • Unfinished: the final Naga settlement (flag and constitution demands), Manipur, and time-bound implementation of accord promises.

Close with · Accords have shrunk violence; durable peace now depends on implementing them in letter and spirit and reconciling communities, not only armed groups, so that the North-East becomes India's bridge to South-East Asia, not its frontier.

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  • Under the Memorandum of Settlement of 29 December 2023, ULFA agreed to give up violence, surrender arms and disband.PIB, Ministry of Home Affairs — Memorandum of Settlement with ULFA (29 December 2023) ↗“under today's agreement, ULFA representatives have agreed to abjure path of violence, lay down all their arms and ammunition and disband their armed organisation.”
  • MHA Annual Report 2025-26: versus 2014, insurgency incidents down 64% in 2024, security-force casualties down 85%, civilian deaths down 86%.MHA Annual Report 2025-26, Chapter 2 (Security Situation in North East, para 2.47) ↗“Compared to 2014, there has been a 64% reduction in insurgency incidents in 2024. Similarly, in this period, Security Forces casualties have come down by 85% and Civilian deaths by 86%.”
  • AFSPA as on 1 April 2025: 3 districts and parts of a fourth in Arunachal Pradesh; 3 districts in Assam; 9 districts and 21 police stations in Nagaland; revoked from 13 police stations of 5 districts in Manipur; fully revoked in Tripura and Meghalaya.MHA Annual Report 2025-26, Chapter 2 (para 2.39) ↗“As on 01.04.2025, AFSPA is applicable only in 3 districts and 3 police stations of another district in Arunachal Pradesh. In Assam, it is applicable in only 3 districts. In Nagaland, it is applicable in 9 districts and 21 Police Stations of 5 other districts. In Manipur, it has been revoked from 13 Police Stations of 5 Districts. Further, it is completely revoked from the States of Tripura and Meghalaya.”
  • March 2024: the CCS gave in-principle approval for fencing the remaining length of the Indo-Myanmar border.MHA Annual Report 2025-26, Chapter 3 (Indo-Myanmar Border, para 3.24) ↗“In March 2024, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) granted its in-principle approval for fencing of the remaining border length of Indo-Myanmar Border.”
  • UNLF agreement, 29 November 2023: the oldest valley-based armed group in Manipur committed to renounce violence and accept the Constitution.MHA Annual Report 2025-26, Chapter 2 (Manipur, para 2.72) ↗“On 29.11.2023, a significant peace agreement on agreed ground rules was signed between the Government of India, the Government of Manipur and the United National Liberation Front (UNLF), marking a pivotal moment in the search for peace in Manipur through political dialogue.”
  • Bodo Accord (MoS, January 2020): a ₹1,500 crore Special Development Package (₹750 crore each from the Centre and Assam) over three years for Bodo areas.MHA, North East Division — Important events and major achievements in North Eastern Region since 2014 (March 2022) ↗“As per MoS, a Special Development Package(SDP) for 1500 crore (Rs. 750 crore by Gol (M/o DoNER) and Rs.750 crore by Govt. of Assam) will be provided for over a period of three years for overall development of Bodo areas in Assam.”

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· 368words · Minimalist IAS

Insurgency incidents in the North-East fell 64% between 2014 and 2024, security-force casualties 85% and civilian deaths 86% (MHA Annual Report 2025-26). Yet 294 insurgency-related incidents in 2024 show how fragile peace remains.

Major challenges to internal security and the peace process

  • Ethnic insurgency and inter-ethnic conflict: Naga, Kuki and Meitei claims over land and identity; the Manipur violence since May 2023 is the starkest case.
  • Porous Myanmar border: the 1,643 km border and the Free Movement Regime allow rebel camps, arms and drugs from the Golden Triangle, and migration that stokes identity anxieties.
  • Trust deficit: AFSPA and human-rights concerns, extortion economies, unemployment that feeds recruitment, and inter-State boundary disputes.
  • Peace-process hurdles: factional splits, rival demands such as a Naga flag and constitution, and slow delivery of promises.

The full answer goes on to cover

  1. Mapping the peace accords and agreements, 2015–2025
  2. What remains unfinished

With 1 map you can reproduce in the exam.

Read the full model answer (368 words) →

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.

2024

GS Paper III 2024 · Q9

10 marks · 150 words X-Ray · Core #39

Explain how narco-terrorism has emerged as a serious threat across the country. Suggest suitable measures to counter narco-terrorism.

Approach · directive: “explain / suggest”

What it asks · Show how drug trafficking funds and fuels terrorism across India's regions, then suggest security, financial and social countermeasures.

It asks 2 things — answer each

  1. Explain how narco-terrorism has emerged as a serious threat across the country: regions, routes and funding links
  2. Suggest suitable measures to counter narco-terrorism: coordination, interdiction, finance and demand-side

Open with · Definition and data: narco-terrorism is the use of drug-trade proceeds to finance terror and insurgency; wedged between the Golden Crescent and Golden Triangle, India seized narcotics worth ₹16,914 crore in 2024 (MHA).

Cover

  • Western border: heroin and arms into Punjab and J&K, increasingly by drones; proceeds fund militancy and gangs.
  • North-East: heroin and synthetic drugs via Myanmar feed insurgent groups and organised crime.
  • Sea route: DRI seized 2,988 kg of heroin at Mundra port (September 2021), Afghan-origin via Iran; NIA took over under UAPA.
  • New channels: dark-web sales, cryptocurrency and hawala; record seizures worth ₹16,914 crore in 2024 (MHA).
  • Coordinate: four-tier NCORD, Anti-Narcotics Task Forces in all States and UTs (MHA).
  • Interdict and investigate: anti-drone systems, coastal surveillance, container scanning; NIA powers; NDPS and PMLA asset attachment; UNODC, BIMSTEC cooperation.
  • Demand side: Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan (15 August 2020, 272 districts, now nationwide), de-addiction, school and community awareness.

Close with · Treat narco-terror as one ecosystem — supply, money and demand — and strike all three through coordinated agencies.

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Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2024, GS Paper III — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 3 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·

Model answer· 223words · Minimalist IAS

Narco-terrorism is the use of drug-trade proceeds to finance terror and insurgency. Wedged between the Golden Crescent and Golden Triangle, India seized narcotics worth ₹16,914 crore in 2024, a record (MHA).

How narco-terrorism threatens the whole country

  • Western border: heroin and arms into Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir, increasingly by drones, funding militancy.
  • North-East: heroin and synthetic drugs from Myanmar finance insurgents and organised crime.
  • Sea route: the DRI seized 2,988 kg of heroin at Mundra port in September 2021, disguised as Afghan talc via Iran; the NIA took over under the UAPA.

✏️ Map to sketch in the exam · Narcotics routes into India

  • Shade: Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir = Golden Crescent heroin route
  • Shade: Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram = Golden Triangle route via Myanmar
  • Mark: Mundra port (22.85, 69.73)
  • Legend: 2021 Mundra heroin haul

Draw on India's official outline (Survey of India boundary).

The full answer goes on to cover

  1. Measures to counter it

Read the full model answer (223 words) →

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.

2023

GS Paper III 2023 · Q9

10 marks · 150 words X-Ray · Core #54

Winning of ‘Hearts and Minds’ in terrorism-affected areas is an essential step in restoring the trust of the population. Discuss the measures adopted by the Government in this respect as part of the conflict resolution in Jammu and Kashmir.

Approach · directive: “discuss”

What it asks · Explain why public trust matters in counter-insurgency and discuss the political, developmental, security and outreach measures taken in J&K.

It asks 2 things — answer each

  1. Establish why winning hearts and minds matters for restoring trust in terrorism-affected areas
  2. Discuss the Government's measures in Jammu and Kashmir: political, developmental, youth, security-outreach and governance, with their limits

Open with · Militancy survives on alienation, so counter-terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir has long paired force with a 'hearts and minds' effort to restore the population's trust in the state; the measures run from the ballot to the balance sheet.

Cover

  • Why it matters: an alienated population shelters militants and supplies recruits; a trusting one supplies intelligence and denies sanctuary.
  • Political voice: after Article 370 was read down (August 2019), the first District Development Council elections (2020) completed three-tier panchayati raj.
  • Development: PMDP 2015, 63 projects worth ₹80,068 crore (announced 7 November 2015); the ₹28,400 crore Industrial Development Scheme (2021) for about 4.5 lakh jobs.
  • Youth and outreach: Himayat, Udaan, PM's Special Scholarship Scheme; Army's Operation Sadbhavana schools and medical camps; surrender and rehabilitation policy.
  • Limits: CAG's 2021 audit found PMDP projects delayed or unfruitful; internet shutdowns, AFSPA grievances, unemployment and online radicalisation erode trust.
  • Way forward: time-bound PMDP completion, jobs through the industrial scheme, empowered DDCs, rights-sensitive policing.

Close with · Security operations create the space; consistent governance, jobs and respect for rights fill it with trust, the only ground on which peace in the Valley can be permanent.

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Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2023, GS Paper III — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 3 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·

Model answer· 221words · Minimalist IAS

Militancy survives on alienation, so counter-terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir pairs force with a 'hearts and minds' effort to restore trust in the state, from the ballot to the balance sheet.

Why hearts and minds matter

  • Trust dries the pond: an alienated population shelters militants; a trusting one gives intelligence and denies sanctuary.

The full answer goes on to cover

  1. Measures adopted
  2. Limits
  3. Way forward

With 1 diagram you can reproduce in the exam.

Read the full model answer (221 words) →

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.

GS Paper III 2023 · Q10

10 marks · 150 words X-Ray · Core #39

The use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) by our adversaries across the borders to ferry arms/ammunitions, drugs, etc., is a serious threat to the internal security. Comment on the measures being taken to tackle this threat.

Approach · directive: “comment”

What it asks · Explain why cross-border drones are a distinct internal-security threat and comment on the technological, legal and operational measures against them.

It asks 2 things — answer each

  1. Establish why cross-border drones are a serious internal-security threat
  2. Comment on the measures being taken (technological, operational, regulatory, legal and diplomatic) and their adequacy

Open with · Cheap, low-flying drones now ferry arms, heroin and cash across the Punjab and Jammu borders, slipping past the fence and the patrol; in the three years to June 2023, 53 drones carrying arms or narcotics were recovered in Punjab alone (MHA, August 2023).

Cover

  • Threat: payloads of arms, explosives and heroin feed terror modules and narco-networks; the June 2021 drone attack on the Jammu air force station showed offensive use; a cheap drone bypasses an expensive fence.
  • Technology: DRDO-BEL D4 counter-drone system (detection, tracking, soft or hard kill); anti-drone systems in Punjab and, since 2024, Rajouri and Poonch.
  • Operations: BSF round-the-clock domination, anti-rogue-drone SOP, joint intelligence with Punjab Police, village vigilance.
  • Regulation: Drone Rules 2021, Digital Sky single window, red-yellow-green airspace map, registration.
  • Law and diplomacy: UAPA, Arms Act, NDPS Act; the issue raised with Pakistan at border-force meetings.
  • Gaps: patchy detection on a long border; cheaper, autonomous drones; counter-drone grids, manpower and R&D must scale.

Close with · A layered defence of detection, neutralisation, regulation and intelligence, built on indigenous systems such as D4, is how the border sky is sealed as firmly as the border fence.

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Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2023, GS Paper III — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 3 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·

Model answer· 223words · Minimalist IAS

Cheap, low-flying drones ferry arms, heroin and cash across the Punjab and Jammu borders, past fence and patrol; in three years to June 2023, 53 drones carrying arms or narcotics were recovered in Punjab alone (MHA, August 2023).

Why a serious internal-security threat

  • Payloads: arms, explosives and heroin feed terror modules and narco-networks; the June 2021 drone attack on Jammu air force station showed offensive use.
  • Asymmetry: a cheap drone beats an expensive fence; small, low flights evade radar.

The full answer goes on to cover

  1. Measures being taken
  2. Assessment and way forward

With 1 flowchart you can reproduce in the exam.

Read the full model answer (223 words) →

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.

GS Paper III 2023 · Q19

15 marks · 250 words

What are the internal security challenges being faced by India? Give out the role of Central Intelligence and Investigative Agencies tasked to counter such threats.

Approach · directive: “what / give out”

What it asks · List India's main internal-security challenges and explain the roles of the central intelligence and investigative agencies in countering them.

It asks 3 things — answer each

  1. List the internal security challenges India faces, traditional and emerging
  2. Give out the role of the central intelligence agencies
  3. Give out the role of the central investigative agencies, and how they are coordinated

Open with · Left-wing extremist violence fell from 1,936 incidents in 2010 to 374 in 2024, and affected districts from 126 to 38: proof that intelligence, policing and development can beat an internal threat together, and India's other challenges demand the same chain.

Cover

  • Traditional challenges: cross-border terrorism and infiltration in J&K, left-wing extremism (1,936 incidents in 2010 to 374 in 2024; districts 126 to 38, six most affected), North-East insurgency, communal and caste violence.
  • Emerging challenges: cyber attacks and online radicalisation, drug trafficking and narco-terror, terror financing and fake currency, drone and maritime threats.
  • Intelligence agencies: IB (domestic, runs the Multi Agency Centre, rebuilt 2025), R&AW (external), NTRO (technical), FIU-IND (financial); NATGRID links databases.
  • Investigative agencies: NIA (terror; 2019 amendment added trafficking, prohibited arms, cyber-terrorism, explosives and extra-territorial jurisdiction), CBI, ED (PMLA), NCB; CERT-In and I4C on cyber crime.
  • Coordination: MAC and state SMACs, NATGRID, state Special Branches and police as first responders.
  • Gaps: overlapping mandates, weak Centre-State coordination, no statutory basis or parliamentary oversight for intelligence bodies, limited cyber capacity.
  • Way forward: statutory charter, real-time Centre-State fusion, cyber and drone capacity; Naxal-free target of 31 March 2026.

Close with · The target of a Naxal-free India by 31 March 2026 shows what coordinated agencies can aim for; the same seamless chain must now meet the cyber, narco and hybrid threats of the coming decade.

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  • MHA (PIB backgrounder, April 2025): LWE violence fell from a peak of 1,936 incidents in 2010 to 374 in 2024 (81% down); deaths of civilians and security forces fell from 1,005 to 150 (85%).PIB backgrounder: Left Wing Extremism, decline in violence (April 2025) ↗“Incidents of violence by LWE which reached its highest level of 1936 in 2010 have reduced to 374 in 2024 i.e. a reduction of 81%. The total number of deaths (civilians + security forces) has also reduced by 85% during this period from 1005 deaths in 2010 to 150 in 2024.”
  • MHA (PIB backgrounder, April 2025): LWE-affected districts fell from 126 to 90 (April 2018), 70 (July 2021) and 38 (April 2024); most-affected districts from 12 to 6, four in Chhattisgarh, one each in Jharkhand and Maharashtra.PIB backgrounder: Left Wing Extremism, affected districts (April 2025) ↗“The number of LWE affected districts reduced from 126 to 90 in April 2018, 70 in July 2021 and further to 38 in April-2024. Out of total Naxalism-affected districts, number of most affected districts has been reduced from 12 to 6, which include four districts from Chhattisgarh (Bijapur, Kanker, Narayanpur, and Sukma), one from Jharkhand (West Singhbhum), and one from Maharashtra (Gadchiroli).”
  • MHA (PIB backgrounder, April 2025): the government is committed to eliminating Naxalism completely by 31 March 2026.PIB backgrounder: Left Wing Extremism, government commitment (April 2025) ↗“committed to completely eliminate Naxalism by 31st March 2026, since Naxalism is seen as the biggest obstacle in the development of remote areas and tribal villages”
  • MHA (Rajya Sabha reply, 3 August 2022): the NIA Act was amended in 2019 to add human trafficking, manufacture and sale of prohibited arms, cyber-terrorism and Explosive Substances Act offences, and to extend the NIA's jurisdiction beyond India.PIB: Functioning of NIA (Ministry of Home Affairs, 3 August 2022) ↗“The NIA Act was amended in year 2019 to enlarge the mandate of the NIA by inclusion of offences related to human trafficking, manufacture & sale of prohibited arms, cyber-terrorism and offences under the Explosive Substances Act, 1908 and expand its jurisdictions beyond India.”
  • New Multi Agency Centre inaugurated at North Block (May 2025): a seamless, integrated platform to synergise the efforts of all security and intelligence agencies.PIB: Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah inaugurates the new Multi Agency Centre (MAC) at North Block, New Delhi ↗“The new MAC will synergise the efforts of all agencies and provide a seamless and integrated platform”

Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2023, GS Paper III — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 3 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·

Model answer· 331words · Minimalist IAS

Left-wing extremist violence fell from 1,936 incidents in 2010 to 374 in 2024, and affected districts from 126 to 38 (MHA): proof that intelligence, policing and development can beat an internal threat together. India's other challenges now demand the same chain.

Internal security challenges India faces

Cross-borderterrorism in J&KLeft-wing extremismNorth-EastinsurgencyCommunal and casteviolenceCyber attacks andradicalisationNarco-terror, fakecurrency, dronesInternalsecurity threats

Internal security threats: Cross-border terrorism in J&K; Left-wing extremism; North-East insurgency; Communal and caste violence; Cyber attacks and radicalisation; Narco-terror, fake currency, drones

  • Traditional: cross-border terrorism and infiltration in Jammu and Kashmir; left-wing extremism, concentrated, as of April 2025, in six most-affected districts of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Maharashtra; insurgency in parts of the North-East.
  • Emerging: cyber attacks on critical infrastructure, online radicalisation, drug trafficking and narco-terror, terror financing, and drone and maritime threats.

The full answer goes on to cover

  1. Role of the central intelligence agencies
  2. Role of the central investigative agencies
  3. Gaps and way forward

Read the full model answer (331 words) →

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.

GS Paper III 2023 · Q20

15 marks · 250 words X-Ray · Core #63

Give out the major sources of terror funding in India and the efforts being made to curtail these sources. In the light of this, also discuss the aim and objective of the ‘No Money for Terror (NMFT)’ Conference recently held at New Delhi in November 2022.

Approach · directive: “give out / discuss”

What it asks · Identify the main sources of terror funding, the measures taken to cut them, and explain the aim and objectives of the November 2022 'No Money for Terror' conference in New Delhi.

It asks 3 things — answer each

  1. Identify the main sources of terror funding in India
  2. Set out the measures taken to curtail those sources
  3. Discuss the aim and objectives of the November 2022 'No Money for Terror' Conference in New Delhi

Open with · Terror groups need money as much as weapons; in June 2024 the FATF placed India in its 'regular follow-up' category, shared by only four other G20 countries, recognising a decade of work on choking terror funds.

Cover

  • Sources: state sponsorship, hawala and cash couriers, fake currency, drug trafficking and narco-terror, extortion by insurgent and Maoist groups, misuse of charities; new channels in crowdfunding, virtual assets, online payments and shell companies.
  • Legal steps: UAPA (amended 2004 and 2019; the 2019 Act passed on 2 August 2019) makes terror financing an offence; PMLA 2002, with virtual digital asset service providers brought in as reporting entities in March 2023.
  • Agencies and policy: FIU-IND, the NIA's terror-funding and fake-currency cell, ED and NCB; KYC and reporting norms, hawala monitoring, demonetisation 2016, FATF membership since 2010.
  • FATF 2024: Mutual Evaluation Report adopted at the June 2024 Singapore plenary placed India in 'regular follow-up', shared by only four other G20 countries.
  • NMFT (18-19 November 2022): third ministerial conference after Paris 2018 and Melbourne 2019; 75 countries and bodies; sessions on global trends, formal and informal channels, emerging technologies, international cooperation.
  • Permanence: India proposed a permanent NMFT secretariat.
  • Way forward: faster prosecutions, pressure on state sponsors, cross-border regulation of virtual assets, intelligence and legal cooperation.

Close with · Denying terrorists their money needs strict domestic enforcement and sustained international cooperation; a permanent No Money for Terror secretariat, as India offered in New Delhi, would make that cooperation institutional rather than episodic.

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Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2023, GS Paper III — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 3 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·

Model answer· 378words · Minimalist IAS

Terror groups need money as much as weapons, for recruits, arms, safe houses and propaganda. In June 2024 the FATF placed India in its 'regular follow-up' category, a distinction shared by only four other G20 countries, recognising a decade of work on exactly this front.

Major sources of terror funding in India

  • State sponsorship: cross-border support routed through handlers.
  • Hawala and cash: informal value-transfer networks and couriers.
  • Fake currency: counterfeit notes pushed across the border.
  • Narcotics: drug trafficking and narco-terror through Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir.
  • Extortion and charities: levies by insurgent and Maoist groups; misuse of non-profits.
  • New channels: crowdfunding, virtual assets, online payment platforms and shell companies.
ChannelExampleCounter-step
InformalHawala, cash couriersPMLA reporting, FIU-IND analysis
PhysicalFake currency, drugsDemonetisation 2016, NIA cell, NCB
DigitalCrypto, crowdfundingVirtual-asset providers under PMLA, 2023

The full answer goes on to cover

  1. Efforts to curtail these sources
  2. Aim and objectives of the 'No Money for Terror' Conference, November 2022
  3. Way forward

Read the full model answer (378 words) →

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.

2022

GS Paper III 2022 · Q9

10 marks · 150 words X-Ray · Core #39

Discuss the types of organised crimes. Describe the linkages between terrorists and organised crime that exist at the national and transnational levels.

Approach · directive: “discuss / describe”

What it asks · List the main types of organised crime, then describe how terrorists link with crime groups within India and across borders.

It asks 3 things — answer each

  1. Discuss the types of organised crime
  2. Describe the linkages between terrorists and organised crime at the national level
  3. Describe the linkages at the transnational level

Open with · Organised crime is a continuing criminal enterprise run for profit and sustained by violence and corruption; terrorism pursues political ends, but the two increasingly share money, routes and manpower.

Cover

  • Types: trafficking in drugs, arms, humans and wildlife and smuggling of gold; predatory crime such as extortion, contract killing and illegal mining; financial and cyber crime such as fake currency, hawala, money laundering and cybercrime.
  • National funding links: extortion and levies on contractors and traders finance insurgent and extremist groups.
  • National logistics: narcotics and arms smuggling in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir, fake currency and hawala channels, and local gangs that give shelter, weapons and couriers.
  • Nexus: the Vohra Committee (1993) pointed to ties among crime syndicates, politicians and officials that shelter both crime and terror.
  • Transnational: drug routes from the Golden Crescent and Golden Triangle finance terror and carry arms; crime networks with terror links, as in the 1993 Mumbai blasts; enablers such as the dark web, cryptocurrency, shell companies and safe havens abroad.
  • Response: the UAPA amendment (2019) lets the Centre designate individuals as terrorists; NIA, FIU-IND and FATF standards; the UN Convention against Transnational Organised Crime and its three protocols, ratified by India in 2011.

Close with · Cutting the money, the arms routes and the protection networks together, at home through UAPA and financial intelligence and abroad through the UN Convention against Transnational Organised Crime and FATF standards, breaks the crime-terror nexus.

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Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2022, GS Paper III — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 3 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·

Model answer· 224words · Minimalist IAS

Organised crime is a continuing criminal enterprise for profit, sustained by violence and corruption; terrorism pursues political ends, yet the two increasingly share money, routes and manpower.

Types of organised crime

  • Trafficking: drugs, arms, humans and wildlife, and gold smuggling.
  • Predatory: extortion rackets, contract killing and illegal mining.
  • Financial and cyber: fake currency, hawala, money laundering and cybercrime.

The full answer goes on to cover

  1. Linkages at the national level
  2. Linkages at the transnational level
  3. Way forward

Read the full model answer (224 words) →

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.

2021

GS Paper III 2021 · Q19

15 marks · 250 words X-Ray · Core #54

Analyse the multidimensional challenges posed by external state and non-state actors, to the internal security of India. Also discuss measures required to be taken to combat these threats.

Approach · directive: “analyse / discuss”

What it asks · Analyse the state and non-state threats from outside to India's internal security across military, economic, cyber, social and coastal dimensions, and suggest measures.

It asks 3 things — answer each

  1. Analyse the multidimensional challenges from external state actors to India's internal security
  2. Analyse the challenges from external non-state actors
  3. Discuss the measures required to combat these threats

Open with · India's security is tested less by declared war than by what crosses its borders unseen: terrorists, drones, counterfeit notes, malware and narratives; BSF recorded 53 drone recoveries tied to arms and narcotics smuggling on the Punjab border in the three years to June 2023.

Cover

  • State actors: proxy war through cross-border terrorism, infiltration, tunnels and drones dropping arms and narcotics.
  • Economic subversion: counterfeit currency, narcotics and hawala; FATF kept Pakistan under increased monitoring from June 2018 to October 2022.
  • Cyber, information and military pressure: attacks on infrastructure, disinformation on fault lines, border face-offs that embolden insurgents.
  • Non-state actors: Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed and insurgent camps abroad; cartels and coastal routes (Mumbai 2008); online radicalisation.
  • Borders and coast: fencing, surveillance, CIBMS, anti-drone systems in Punjab, layered coastal security, Centre-State intelligence sharing.
  • Law and finance: UAPA 2019 designates individuals as terrorists; NIA Act 2019 covers counterfeit currency, cyberterrorism and offences abroad; CFT Cell with FATF.
  • Diplomacy and society: isolate sponsors at the UN and FATF, credible deterrence, border-area development, community policing and counter-narratives.

Close with · Secure borders, agile intelligence, firm law and diplomacy work only together, and only with development that denies external actors the grievances they exploit; keeping sponsors under FATF scrutiny, as Pakistan was in 2018-22, must be part of that whole-of-nation defence.

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  • MHA in Lok Sabha (1 August 2023): 53 incidents of recovery of drones used to smuggle arms and narcotics across the Punjab border were detected in the three years to 30 June 2023.PIB, Ministry of Home Affairs (1 August 2023): Smuggling of arms and narcotics (Lok Sabha reply) ↗“In last three years and till 30 th June, 2023, 53 incidents of recovery of drones involved in smuggling of Arms/Narcotics have been detected.”
  • The same reply lists anti-drone systems deployed in Punjab's border areas and an anti-rogue-drone SOP for field units.PIB, Ministry of Home Affairs (1 August 2023): Smuggling of arms and narcotics (Lok Sabha reply) ↗“Anti-drone systems have been deployed in border areas of Punjab to counter the drone threats.”
  • The Home Minister in Lok Sabha (July 2019): the UAPA amendment aims at speedy investigation and prosecution and at designating an individual as a terrorist, in line with international practice.PIB, Ministry of Home Affairs (24 July 2019): Lok Sabha passes the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill, 2019 ↗“the object of the proposed amendments is to facilitate speedy investigation and prosecution of terror offences and designating an individual as terrorist in line with the international practices”
  • PIB backgrounder on counter-terror policy: the NIA's jurisdiction extends to human trafficking, counterfeit currency, cyberterrorism and offences committed outside India; over 57 individuals have been designated terrorists since the 2019 amendment.PIB backgrounder: 12 Years of India's Zero Tolerance Against Terror ↗“investigate cases related to human trafficking, counterfeit currency, cyberterrorism and offences committed outside India affecting Indian interests. Since the amendment came into force, the Government has designated over 57 individuals as terrorists”
  • FATF plenary outcomes (October 2022): Pakistan completed action plans on strategic deficiencies identified in June 2018 and June 2021 and left increased monitoring.FATF: Outcomes of the FATF Plenary, 20-21 October 2022 ↗“addressed technical deficiencies to meet the commitments of its action plans regarding strategic deficiencies that the FATF identified in June 2018 and June 2021, the latter of which was completed in advance of the deadlines, encompassing 34 action items in total.”

Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2021, GS Paper III — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 3 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·

Model answer· 368words · Minimalist IAS

India's internal security is tested less by declared war than by what crosses its borders unseen: terrorists, drones, counterfeit notes, malware and narratives. On the Punjab border alone, the Home Ministry told Parliament of 53 drone recoveries tied to arms and narcotics smuggling in the three years to June 2023, a measure of how external actors now reach inside.

Challenges from external state actors

  • Proxy war: sponsorship of cross-border terrorism and infiltration; tunnels under the border and drones dropping arms and narcotics.
  • Economic subversion: counterfeit currency, narcotics and hawala terror financing; the FATF kept Pakistan under increased monitoring from June 2018 to October 2022 for such deficiencies.
  • Cyber and information: state-linked attacks on critical infrastructure and disinformation aimed at communal, caste and regional fault lines.
  • Military pressure: border face-offs tie down forces and embolden insurgents with sanctuaries across the frontier.

The full answer goes on to cover

  1. Challenges from external non-state actors
  2. Measures required to combat these threats

With 1 diagram you can reproduce in the exam.

Read the full model answer (368 words) →

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.

GS Paper III 2021 · Q20

15 marks · 250 words X-Ray · Core #39

Analyse the complexity and intensity of terrorism, its causes, linkages and obnoxious nexus. Also suggest measures required to be taken to eradicate the menace of terrorism.

Approach · directive: “analyse / suggest”

What it asks · Analyse why terrorism is complex and intense, its causes, and its links with crime and other actors, and suggest measures to eradicate it.

It asks 4 things — answer each

  1. Analyse the complexity and intensity of terrorism
  2. Analyse its causes
  3. Analyse its linkages and the crime-terror nexus
  4. Suggest measures to eradicate terrorism

Open with · Terrorism is organised violence against civilians and the State for ideological or political ends; in India it fuses external sponsorship, local grievance and organised crime, which explains its complexity and intensity even as terrorist-initiated incidents in Jammu and Kashmir fell from 228 in 2018 to 43 in 2023.

Cover

  • Complexity: religious, ethnic and political ideologies, state sponsorship, lone-wolf actors and online radicalisation; tactics shift from bombs to fidayeen attacks and drones.
  • Intensity: Parliament (2001), Mumbai (2008) and Pulwama (2019) brought heavy casualties, fear, economic loss and India-Pakistan crises.
  • Causes: alienation, poverty and unemployment, regional or communal grievances, weak governance, indoctrination; state support as a major source of backing (PM at NMFT, 2022).
  • Linkages: drug trafficking, hawala, counterfeit currency, crypto and cyber channels; nexus of terrorists with criminals, smugglers and corrupt officials under cross-border havens.
  • Security and law: intelligence integration, police modernisation, NIA, border and coastal security, counter-drone capability, UAPA, MHA's CFT Cell with FATF, speedy trials.
  • Preventive: deradicalisation, community policing, counter-narratives, jobs and inclusive development.
  • Global: No Money for Terror conferences (Paris 2018, Melbourne 2019, New Delhi 2022); press for the CCIT India proposed at the UN in November 1996.

Close with · Terrorism yields to force only when justice, inclusion and global action against its sponsors move with it; a universal legal framework through the CCIT remains the unfinished piece.

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Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2021, GS Paper III — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 3 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·

Model answer· 369words · Minimalist IAS

Terrorism is organised violence against civilians and the State for ideological or political ends. In India it fuses external sponsorship, local grievance and organised crime; that fusion explains both its complexity and its intensity, even as terrorist-initiated incidents in Jammu and Kashmir fell from 228 in 2018 to 43 in 2023 (to 30 November).

Complexity and intensity of terrorism

  • Many faces: religious, ethnic and political ideologies, state sponsorship, lone-wolf actors and online radicalisation, each needing a different response.
  • Shifting tactics: from bombings to fidayeen attacks and drones; targets range from civilians to security forces and symbols of the State.
  • Intensity: the Parliament attack (2001), Mumbai (2008) and Pulwama (2019) caused heavy casualties, fear, economic loss and India-Pakistan crises.

The full answer goes on to cover

  1. Causes of terrorism
  2. Linkages and the obnoxious nexus
  3. Measures to eradicate terrorism

With 1 diagram you can reproduce in the exam.

Read the full model answer (369 words) →

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.

2020

GS Paper III 2020 · Q10

10 marks · 150 words X-Ray · Core #54

For effective border area management, discuss the steps required to be taken to deny local support to militants and also suggest ways to manage favourable perception among locals.

Approach · directive: “discuss / suggest”

What it asks · Give two sets of measures: those that cut the shelter, information, supplies and recruits militants draw from border communities, and those that win the locals' trust.

It asks 2 things — answer each

  1. Discuss the steps required to deny local support to militants in border areas
  2. Suggest ways to manage a favourable perception among locals

Open with · A fence can stop an infiltrator; it cannot stop a village from sheltering one. Militants live on local shelter, information, supplies and recruits, so the community matters as much as the line.

Cover

  • Intelligence and policing: village-level informant networks, community policing, local police strength and quick response to tip-offs, with intelligence sharing between forces.
  • Cut the lifelines: curb smuggling, hawala and narcotics money that fund militancy; tighten cross-border movement with fencing, sensors and drones.
  • Development: roads, schools, health centres and connectivity in border villages through the Border Area Development Programme, so that locals have a stake in peace.
  • Livelihoods: skills, jobs and local recruitment into forces and border works, and support for border trade and local produce.
  • Conduct of forces: disciplined behaviour, respect for human rights and local custom, prompt redress of complaints, and civic action such as medical camps.
  • Communication: local-language outreach through community leaders, youth and local media, counter-narratives on social media, and quick rebuttal of rumours.
  • Political outreach: dialogue with elected local bodies, rehabilitation and surrender schemes for militants, and swift justice in local grievances.

Close with · A border is held by trust as much as by troops; as the Vibrant Villages Programme puts it, people who stay in border villages add to the security of the border.

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  • BADP guidelines (MHA, revised 2008, hosted by the Punjab Planning Department): the programme covers 362 border blocks in 96 border districts of 17 States, to meet the special developmental needs of people in remote and inaccessible areas near the international border.Ministry of Home Affairs, Border Area Development Programme: Revised Guidelines 2008 (hosted by Punjab Planning Department) ↗“The main objective of the BADP will be to meet the special developmental needs of the people living in remote and inaccessible areas situated near the international border and to bridge the divide in the physical and social infrastructure of such areas.”
  • PM India (15 February 2023): the Cabinet approved the Vibrant Villages Programme for 2022-23 to 2025-26 with Rs 4,800 crore, to encourage people to stay in border villages and reverse out-migration, adding to border security.PMINDIA: Cabinet approves Centrally Sponsored Scheme Vibrant Villages Programme, 15 February 2023 ↗“This will help in encouraging people to stay in their native locations in border areas and reversing the outmigration from these villages adding to improved security of the border.”

Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2020, GS Paper III — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 3 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·

Model answer· 226words · Minimalist IAS

A fence can stop an infiltrator; it cannot stop a village from sheltering one. Militants live on local shelter, information, supplies and recruits, so the community matters as much as the line.

Steps required to deny local support to militants

  • Intelligence from below: village informant networks, community policing and quick response to tip-offs, shared across forces.
  • Cut the lifelines: curb smuggling, hawala and narcotics money; tighten the border with fencing, sensors and drones.
  • Pull recruits out: surrender and rehabilitation schemes that separate militants from the community.
  • Protect the refusers: swift action against those who shelter militants, protection for villagers who refuse.

The full answer goes on to cover

  1. Ways to manage a favourable perception among locals

With 1 diagram you can reproduce in the exam.

Read the full model answer (226 words) →

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.

2019

GS Paper III 2019 · Q9

10 marks · 150 words X-Ray · Core #63

The banning of ‘Jamaat-e-Islami’ in Jammu and Kashmir brought into focus the role of over-ground workers (OGWs) in assisting terrorist organizations. Examine the role played by OGWs in assisting terrorist organizations in insurgency affected areas. Discuss measures to neutralize influence of OGWs.

Approach · directive: “examine / discuss”

What it asks · Explain what OGWs do for militant groups in insurgency-hit areas, why they are hard to counter, and what mix of security, legal and social measures can neutralise their influence.

It asks 2 things — answer each

  1. Examine the role of over-ground workers in assisting terrorist organisations in insurgency-affected areas
  2. Discuss measures to neutralise the influence of OGWs

Open with · In 2019 the Centre banned Jamaat-e-Islami (J&K) as an unlawful association under section 3(1) of the UAPA, and in February 2024 extended the ban five years; the ban spotlighted the unarmed network that keeps militancy alive, the over-ground workers.

Cover

  • Who: civilians living ordinary lives (relatives, sympathisers, drivers, shopkeepers, students) who covertly serve militants; Maoist areas have similar village networks.
  • Logistics: shelter, food, medicines, transport, safe houses and couriers; local knowledge of terrain and patrols aids ambush and escape.
  • Eyes, money and voice: tip-offs on security forces, hawala funds, propaganda, radicalising youth, mobilising crowds at encounter sites.
  • Why hard to counter: unarmed and shielded by kinship, fear or sympathy; heavy-handed action alienates the community whose help is needed.
  • Intelligence-led policing: MHA's J&K strategy names identifying 'the strategic supporters of terrorism' and investigating how they aid and abet as a core preventive operation (2023).
  • Law with due process: UAPA (amended 2019 to designate individuals as terrorists), NIA action against financiers and unlawful associations, hawala tracking; no blanket detentions.
  • Drain the pool: youth outreach, skills and jobs, counselling and de-radicalisation, rehabilitation for those who leave, swift and fair justice when forces overstep.
  • Results: terrorist-initiated incidents in J&K fell from 228 (2018) to 43 (2023, to 30 November) and civilian deaths from 55 to 13 (CID J&K via MHA).

Close with · Neutralising OGWs is less about arrests than about legitimacy: precise intelligence, lawful pressure on networks and development that gives young people a stake leave militancy without the local sympathy it feeds on.

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  • PIB (MHA, 27 February 2024): Jamaat-e-Islami Jammu Kashmir was declared an unlawful association for a further five years under section 3(1) of the UAPA, 1967.PIB: Government declares Jamaat-e-Islami Jammu Kashmir an unlawful association for a further 5 years (2024) ↗“Government of India has declared ‘Jamaat-e-Islami Jammu Kashmir’ as an 'Unlawful Association' for a further period of 5 years under Section 3(1) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) 1967.”
  • PIB (MHA, Lok Sabha reply, December 2023): preventive operations in J&K include identifying the strategic supporters of terrorism and investigating their mechanisms of aiding and abetting it.PIB: Decline in Terror Incidents in Jammu and Kashmir (2023) ↗“preventive operations involve identifying the strategic supporters of terrorism and initiating investigations to expose their mechanisms of aiding and abetting terrorism, identifications of vulnerable spots to prevent terrorist attacks on civilians”
  • PIB (MHA, 2023, source CID J&K): terrorist-initiated incidents fell from 228 in 2018 to 43 in 2023 (to 30 November); civilians killed from 55 to 13; security personnel killed from 91 to 25.PIB: Decline in Terror Incidents in Jammu and Kashmir (2023) ↗“Description 2018 2023 (upto 30 th November) Terrorist Initiated Incidents 228 43 Encounters 189 48 Civilians killed 55 13 Security personnel killed in action 91 25 (Source: CID, J&K)”
  • PIB (24 July 2019): the UAPA Amendment Bill, 2019 aimed to speed investigation and prosecution of terror offences and to allow designating an individual as a terrorist, in line with international practice.PIB: Lok Sabha passes the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill, 2019 ↗“the object of the proposed amendments is to facilitate speedy investigation and prosecution of terror offences and designating an individual as terrorist in line with the international practices.”

Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2019, GS Paper III — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 3 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·

Model answer· 224words · Minimalist IAS

In 2019 the Centre banned Jamaat-e-Islami (J&K) under section 3(1) of the UAPA, a ban extended five years in 2024. It spotlighted the unarmed network behind militancy: over-ground workers.

Role of OGWs in assisting terrorist organisations

  • Who: civilians living ordinary lives (relatives, drivers, shopkeepers, students) who covertly serve militants.
  • Logistics: shelter, food, medicines, transport, safe houses, couriers; local knowledge of patrols aids ambush and escape.
  • Eyes, money and voice: tip-offs on patrols, hawala funds, propaganda, radicalising youth, crowds at encounter sites.
  • Why hard to counter: unarmed, shielded by kinship, fear or sympathy; heavy-handed action alienates the community.
SympathiserOGWrecruitmilitantcrowd at encounter
  1. Sympathiser
  2. OGW
  3. recruit
  4. militant
  5. crowd at encounter

The full answer goes on to cover

  1. Measures to neutralise the influence of OGWs

Read the full model answer (224 words) →

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.

GS Paper III 2019 · Q19

15 marks · 250 words

Indian Government has recently strengthened the anti-terrorism laws by amending the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), 1967 and the NIA Act. Analyze the changes in the context of prevailing security environment while discussing the scope and reasons for opposing the UAPA by human rights organizations.

Approach · directive: “analyse / discuss”

What it asks · Set out what the 2019 amendments to the UAPA and the NIA Act changed, why the Government sought them given the security environment, and why human-rights groups oppose the UAPA.

It asks 2 things — answer each

  1. Analyse the 2019 changes to the UAPA and the NIA Act in the context of the prevailing security environment
  2. Discuss the scope of and reasons for human-rights organisations' opposition to the UAPA

Open with · Weeks after the 2019 amendment the Centre named Masood Azhar, Hafiz Saeed, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and Dawood Ibrahim as terrorists under Schedule 4 of the UAPA, reasoning that when organisations were banned their leaders simply changed names; the amendments gave the State that tool and reopened the debate on liberty.

Cover

  • UAPA changes: individuals can be designated (Schedule 4) with de-notification via the Government and a Review Committee; NIA Inspectors investigate; NIA chief approves attachment.
  • NIA Act: schedule adds human trafficking, counterfeit currency, prohibited arms, cyber-terrorism and explosives offences, and offences abroad against Indians.
  • Security case: banned groups reappear under new names, lone online-radicalised actors, and the UN's listing of Masood Azhar in May 2019 with no Indian equivalent.
  • Opposition: executive designation without trial; vague terms risking Articles 14, 19 and 21; Section 43D(5) read strictly in Watali (2019); cases up to 1,005 (2022).
  • Federal concern: NIA's expanded reach cuts into States' police powers.
  • Way forward: K.A. Najeeb (2021) lets constitutional courts grant bail where custody breaches Article 21; time-bound trials, reasoned designations, periodic review.

Close with · A law that can name a Masood Azhar must not jail a dissenter for years without trial; the amendments are legitimate only as far as the Najeeb principle, fair and speedy trial as the touchstone of stringent bail provisions, governs their use.

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Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2019, GS Paper III — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 3 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·

Model answer· 373words · Minimalist IAS

Weeks after the 2019 amendment, the Centre named Masood Azhar, Hafiz Saeed, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and Dawood Ibrahim as terrorists under Schedule 4 of the UAPA, reasoning that when organisations were banned their leaders simply changed names. The amendments gave the State that tool and reopened the debate on liberty.

What the 2019 amendments changed

ProvisionBefore 2019After 2019
Terrorist designationOnly organisationsIndividuals too (Schedule 4), with review
Property attachment in NIA casesState police chief's approvalNIA Director-General's approval
NIA Act scheduleCore terror offencesAdds trafficking, counterfeit currency, cyber-terrorism; offences abroad
  • Investigation: NIA officers of Inspector rank may now investigate UAPA cases; a person named may seek de-notification from the Government and then a Review Committee.

The full answer goes on to cover

  1. The security environment that drove them
  2. Scope of and reasons for human-rights opposition
  3. Way forward

Read the full model answer (373 words) →

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.

GS Paper III 2019 · Q20

15 marks · 250 words X-Ray · Core #39

Cross-border movement of insurgents is only one of the several security challenges facing the policing of the border in North-East India. Examine the various challenges currently emanating across the India-Myanmar border. Also, discuss the steps to counter the challenges.

Approach · directive: “examine / discuss”

What it asks · Identify the security challenges along the India-Myanmar border beyond insurgent movement, such as smuggling, trafficking, migration and open-border rules, and discuss steps to counter them.

It asks 2 things — answer each

  1. Examine the security challenges across the India-Myanmar border beyond insurgent movement
  2. Discuss steps to counter them

Open with · The 1,643 km India-Myanmar border crosses forested hills whose kin communities straddle the line; in February 2024 the Government decided to fence all of it and scrap the Free Movement Regime for internal security and the North-East's demographic structure, a decision that shows how many challenges the border carries beyond insurgent crossings.

Cover

  • Sanctuaries: NSCN (K), ULFA (I) and Manipur groups stage attacks from Myanmar camps, as in the Chandel ambush of June 2015 (18 soldiers killed).
  • Free Movement Regime: the 16 km visa-free belt was misused by militants and smugglers; MHA moved to scrap it in February 2024.
  • Narcotics and arms: Golden Triangle heroin and methamphetamine via Manipur and Mizoram; DRI's 52.67 kg methamphetamine seizure from Zokhawthar (April 2025); small arms, fake currency.
  • Migration: after Myanmar's 2021 crisis the Centre advised the four border States on 10 March 2021 to check illegal influx; strain on resources and identities.
  • Physical control: fence and patrol track along 1,643 km; 10 km fenced at Moreh, hybrid-surveillance pilots, 20 km more approved; registered crossings.
  • Cooperation and development: coordinated operations, Land Border Crossing Agreement (May 2018); Vibrant Villages Programme-II (Rs 6,839 crore) and peace talks.

Close with · Fencing where terrain allows, documented crossings for genuine communities, joint action with Myanmar and VVP-II's vision of safe, secured and vibrant land borders shrink the space insurgents, smugglers and traffickers share with ordinary border life.

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  • MHA decided on 8 Feb 2024 to scrap the Free Movement Regime with Myanmar for internal security and the demographic structure of the North-Eastern States, recommending its immediate suspension.PIB (MHA), 8 Feb 2024 — MHA decides to scrap Free Movement Regime between India and Myanmar ↗“Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has decided to scrap the Free Movement Regime (FMR) between India and Myanmar to ensure the internal security of the country and to maintain the demographic structure of India’s North Eastern States bordering Myanmar.”
  • Fence along the entire 1,643 km border with a patrol track; 10 km already fenced at Moreh; two 1 km Hybrid Surveillance System pilots in Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur; about 20 km more approved in Manipur.PIB (MHA), 6 Feb 2024 — Modi government has decided to construct a fence along the entire Indo-Myanmar border ↗“Out of the total border length, a 10 km stretch in Moreh, Manipur already been fenced Two pilot projects of fencing through a Hybrid Surveillance System (HSS) are under execution, the projects will fence a stretch of 1 km each in Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur Fence works covering approximate 20 km in Manipur have also been approved”
  • DRI seized 52.67 kg of methamphetamine tablets on 11 April 2025 from a truck that had originated at Zokhawthar on the Mizoram-Myanmar border.PIB (Ministry of Finance), 13 Apr 2025 — DRI thwarts major methamphetamine smuggling operation on outskirts of Mizoram ↗“The truck, registered in Nagaland, had originated from Zokhawthar—a sensitive border town near the Indo-Myanmar frontier—and was enroute to Tripura.”
  • On 10 March 2021 the Centre advised Manipur, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland to check the illegal influx of Myanmar nationals arising from the situation in Myanmar.PIB (MHA), 27 Jul 2021 — Illegal influx of people (Lok Sabha reply) ↗“Central Government has issued advisory to the State Governments of Manipur, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland on 10.03.2021 to take appropriate action as per law to check the illegal influx from Myanmar into India.”
  • Vibrant Villages Programme-II: Rs 6,839 crore for villages in blocks abutting international land borders (other than the northern border), including Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland, under the vision of safe, secured and vibrant land borders.PIB (Cabinet), 4 Apr 2025 — Cabinet approves Vibrant Villages Programme-II for 2024-25 to 2028-29 ↗“With a total outlay of Rs.6,839 crore, the programme shall be implemented in select strategic villages in the States/UTs of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, J&K (UT), Ladakh (UT), Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland”

Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2019, GS Paper III — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 3 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·

Model answer· 373words · Minimalist IAS

The 1,643 km India-Myanmar border runs through Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram, across forested hills whose kin communities straddle the line. In February 2024 the Government decided to fence all of it and scrap the Free Movement Regime for 'internal security' and 'the demographic structure' of the North-East, a decision that reflects challenges well beyond insurgent crossings.

✏️ Map to sketch in the exam · India-Myanmar border: 1,643 km across four States

  • Shade: Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram = States on the Myanmar border
  • Mark: Moreh (24.25, 94.30), Zokhawthar (23.37, 93.39)
  • Legend: crossing points

Draw on India's official outline (Survey of India boundary).

Challenges across the India-Myanmar border

  • Sanctuaries: NSCN (K), ULFA (I) and Manipur-based groups stage attacks from camps in Myanmar, as in the Chandel ambush of 4 June 2015 that killed 18 soldiers.
  • Misused free movement: the 16 km visa-free belt let militants and smugglers pass as villagers, which is why MHA moved to suspend and scrap it in 2024.
  • Narcotics: Golden Triangle heroin and methamphetamine enter through Manipur and Mizoram; in April 2025 the DRI seized 52.67 kg of methamphetamine on a truck from Zokhawthar on the Mizoram border.
  • Arms and currency: small arms, fake currency and wildlife products also cross.
  • Migration: after Myanmar's 2021 upheaval the Centre advised the four border States on 10 March 2021 to check the illegal influx of Myanmar nationals; inflows strain resources and identities.
  • Thin presence: few roads, posts and sensors leave policing stretched and intelligence patchy.

The full answer goes on to cover

  1. Steps to counter the challenges

Read the full model answer (373 words) →

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.

2017

GS Paper III 2017 · Q10

10 marks · 150 words

The North-East region of India has been infested with insurgency for a very long time. Analyze the major reasons for the survival of armed insurgency in this region.

Approach · directive: “analyse”

What it asks · Analyse the causes that let armed insurgency persist in India's North-East despite decades of peace efforts.

Open with · Historical opening: Nagaland and then Mizoram saw separatist movements soon after independence; insurgency outlived decades of peace efforts before incidents fell 71% between 2014 and 2023 (MHA).

Cover

  • Identity and autonomy: fear of losing land, culture and political voice drives homeland demands that persist despite Statehood, the Sixth Schedule and autonomous councils.
  • Migration and land: influx on tribal land fed the Assam agitation; the Assam Accord (1985) brought peace but not a solution to immigration.
  • Geography: the Siliguri corridor is the only land link, and porous borders with Myanmar, Bangladesh and Bhutan give camps, arms routes and drug money.
  • Development gap: few jobs push youth to recruitment; extortion and parallel 'taxation' make insurgency a livelihood.
  • Governance: delayed accords, weak justice and alleged excesses under AFSPA (1958) create resentment.
  • Fragmentation: deals with one faction, as after the 1997 NSCN-IM ceasefire, leave rivals fighting on.
  • Way forward: accords honoured in full (Mizo 1986; Bodo 2020 and Karbi Anglong 2021 brought 1,615 NDFB cadres to surrender) and calibrated security (AFSPA lifted from Tripura 2015, Meghalaya 2018).

Close with · Accords honoured in full and development that reaches the last village can turn the North-East from a frontier of insurgency into India's bridge to South-East Asia.

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Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2017, GS Paper III — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 3 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·

Model answer· 225words · Minimalist IAS

Nagaland and then Mizoram saw separatist movements soon after independence; insurgency outlived decades of peace efforts before incidents fell 71% between 2014 and 2023 (MHA).

Identity and political causes

  • Land and voice: homeland demands persist despite Statehood, the Sixth Schedule and autonomous councils.
  • Migration: influx on tribal land fed the Assam agitation; the 1985 Assam Accord brought peace, not a solution to immigration.

The full answer goes on to cover

  1. Geography and sanctuaries
  2. Economy, governance and fragmentation
  3. Way forward

With 1 map you can reproduce in the exam.

Read the full model answer (225 words) →

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.

GS Paper III 2017 · Q20

15 marks · 250 words X-Ray · Core #63

The scourge of terrorism is a grave challenge to national security. What solutions do you suggest to curb this growing menace ? What are the major sources of terrorist funding ?

Approach · directive: “what solutions / what are the major sources”

What it asks · Suggest measures to curb terrorism and name the main sources of terrorist funding.

It asks 2 things — answer each

  1. Suggest solutions to curb terrorism
  2. Identify the major sources of terrorist funding

Open with · Terrorism strikes at the State's first duty, the safety of its citizens, and survives on money, arms, ideology and safe havens; the FATF's 2024 evaluation placed India in 'regular follow-up', its highest category, while urging it to turn financial investigations into convictions.

Cover

  • Sources of funds: hawala and illegal money transfers, counterfeit currency, drug trafficking, smuggling, and extortion or ransom demands.
  • Sources of funds: misuse of charities and donations, state sponsorship, cyber fraud, front companies and, in some regions, extortion in mining and construction.
  • Intelligence and policing: better sharing among agencies and States, NIA and NATGRID, strong local police and border and coastal surveillance.
  • Legal and financial action: the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act provisions on raising funds, Prevention of Money Laundering Act, financial intelligence and FATF norms.
  • Countering radicalisation: community engagement, deradicalisation, monitoring of online recruitment, and education and jobs for vulnerable youth.
  • Diplomacy: pressure through the UN, FATF and bilateral cooperation to end safe havens; capacity building and quick response forces such as the NSG.
  • Balance: measures must respect due process and human rights so that action against terrorism does not erode trust of the affected communities.

Close with · Terrorism yields to a whole-of-nation response, sharp intelligence, dried-up finance, fair and fast justice and communities that trust the State, backed by the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism that India has long pressed for.

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Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2017, GS Paper III — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 3 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·

Model answer· 371words · Minimalist IAS

Terrorism strikes at the State's first duty, the safety of its citizens, and survives on money, arms, ideology and safe havens. The FATF's 2024 evaluation placed India in 'regular follow-up', its highest category, while urging it to turn financial investigations into convictions.

Solutions to curb terrorism

  • Intelligence fusion: strengthen the Multi-Agency Centre and NATGRID, integrate State intelligence and share actionable inputs in real time.
  • Policing and borders: State police as first responders; fenced and electronically watched borders; coastal security with marine police and the Coast Guard; NSG hubs for rapid response.
  • Law and courts: the UAPA, fast-track terror trials, witness protection and NIA reach across States.
  • Financial choke: PMLA, the Financial Intelligence Unit and FATF standards to trace and freeze funds; NIA's Terror Funding and Fake Currency Cell investigates terror-funding cases.
  • Counter-radicalisation: monitor online recruitment, engage community leaders, run deradicalisation, and expand education and jobs in Jammu and Kashmir, the Northeast and LWE districts.
  • Diplomacy: press the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism at the UN; use FATF and UN sanctions listings; India hosted the third 'No Money for Terror' ministerial conference in New Delhi (November 2022).
  • Rights and trust: due process, no collective punishment and accountable forces, so counter-terrorism does not create the next recruit.

The full answer goes on to cover

  1. Major sources of terrorist funding

With 1 diagram you can reproduce in the exam.

Read the full model answer (371 words) →

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.

2016

GS Paper III 2016 · Q17

12½ marks · 200 words X-Ray · Core #54

The terms Hot Pursuit and ‘Surgical Strikes’ are often used in connection with armed action against terrorist attacks. Discuss the strategic impact of such actions.

Approach · directive: “discuss”

What it asks · Explain the two terms and discuss what cross-border counter-terror actions achieve strategically and what risks and limits they carry.

It asks 2 things — answer each

  1. Explain: the terms hot pursuit and surgical strikes
  2. Discuss: the strategic impact of such actions, with their gains, risks and limits

Open with · Definitions with recent events: hot pursuit is the immediate chase of attackers across a border, as along the Myanmar border in June 2015; a surgical strike is a planned, precise action on a specific target, as across the Line of Control in September 2016 after Uri.

Cover

  • Meaning: hot pursuit is chasing attackers across a border straight after an attack; a surgical strike is a planned, targeted action with limited scope and low collateral damage.
  • Strategic gains: they impose costs on terror groups and their sponsors, signal resolve, restore public confidence and raise the morale of security forces.
  • Doctrinal shift: they show willingness to act beyond strategic restraint, and they may deter by raising the risk of retaliation for future attacks.
  • Risks: escalation between nuclear-armed neighbours, denial and retaliation by the other State, and reputational costs if facts are contested.
  • Law: hot pursuit is recognised at sea (UNCLOS Article 111), not on land; some States argue that self-defence allows action where the other State is unable or unwilling to act, a contested view.
  • Limits: such actions damage launch pads and camps but do not end sponsorship; terror groups regroup, so they are a supplement to defence, intelligence and diplomacy.
  • Way forward: pair calibrated force with better intelligence, border defence, financial pressure through global forums and diplomacy that isolates sponsors.

Close with · A strike restores deterrence only while the sponsor keeps paying; UNSC Resolution 1373 (2001), binding all States to prevent and suppress the financing of terrorist acts, is the instrument that makes the price permanent.

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  • The UN Charter recognises a State's inherent right of self-defence against an armed attack, the legal basis on which cross-border counter-terror action is usually justified.Charter of the United Nations, Article 51 — United Nations ↗“Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations, until the Security Council has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and security.”
  • UNCLOS Article 111: the right of hot pursuit exists at sea and ceases when the pursued ship enters the territorial sea of its own or a third State.UN: UNCLOS Part VII, Article 111 (Right of hot pursuit) ↗“3. The right of hot pursuit ceases as soon as the ship pursued enters the territorial sea of its own State or of a third State.”
  • FATF, 21 October 2022: Pakistan removed from increased monitoring (the 'grey list').FATF: Pakistan country page, Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring, 21 October 2022 ↗“Nicaragua and Pakistan are no longer subject to increased monitoring by the FATF.”
  • UNSC Resolution 1373 (2001), operative paragraph 1: all States shall prevent and suppress the financing of terrorist acts and criminalise the collection of funds for terrorism.UN Security Council Resolution 1373 (2001), text hosted by UNODC ↗“1. Decides that all States shall: (a) Prevent and suppress the financing of terrorist acts; (b) Criminalize the wilful provision or collection, by any means, directly or indirectly, of funds by their nationals or in their territories”

Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2016, GS Paper III — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 3 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·

Model answer· 293words · Minimalist IAS

Hot pursuit is the immediate chase of attackers across a border, as along the Myanmar border in June 2015. A surgical strike is a planned, precise action on a specific target, as across the Line of Control in September 2016 after Uri. Their worth lies less in the damage done than in what they signal.

AspectHot pursuitSurgical strike
TimingImmediate, after an attackPlanned, intelligence-led
ScopeFollows fleeing attackersSpecific target, limited depth
Legal anchorUNCLOS Article 111, at sea onlySelf-defence, Article 51 UN Charter

Strategic impact: what such actions achieve

  • Imposing cost: the burden of an attack shifts back to perpetrators and sponsors, ending the assumption of unconditional restraint.
  • Signalling: political will and capability are demonstrated; an announced, calibrated action also signals its limits.
  • Space below the nuclear threshold: punitive action short of war shows that nuclear blackmail cannot shield cross-border terrorism.
  • Diplomatic framing: invoking the inherent right of self-defence under Article 51 of the UN Charter isolates the sponsor.

The full answer goes on to cover

  1. Strategic impact: risks and limits
  2. Way forward

Read the full model answer (293 words) →

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.

GS Paper III 2016 · Q18

12½ marks · 200 words X-Ray · Core #39

“Terrorism is emerging as a competitive industry over the last few decades.” Analyze the above statement.

Approach · directive: “analyze”

What it asks · Analyse how terror groups increasingly behave like competing organisations, with funding, recruitment, branding and rivalry, and what follows for counter-terrorism.

It asks 2 things — answer each

  1. Analyse: how terrorism has come to behave like a competitive industry, in funding, supply, recruitment, branding and rivalry
  2. Analyse: what follows for counter-terrorism, and the limits of the industry analogy

Open with · A paradox: terror groups now run budgets, supply chains, brands and recruitment drives, and compete for money, members and attention much as firms compete for market share; the analogy illuminates their economics.

Cover

  • Funding: terror groups raise money through extortion, kidnapping, smuggling, narcotics, illegal mining or oil, donations and criminal enterprises, and move it by hawala and crypto assets.
  • Organised crime nexus: arms, fake currency, drug and human trafficking networks supply and finance terror, which blurs the line between crime and ideology.
  • Competition: groups outbid each other with bigger, more visible attacks to win recruits, funds and sponsors; al-Qaeda and ISIS rivalry is an example.
  • Branding and franchising: affiliates use a common name and message, and social media is used for marketing, propaganda and recruitment, including of lone actors.
  • State sponsorship and professional support: use of terror as a low-cost proxy, provision of training, safe havens and weapons, and paid or skilled operatives.
  • Response: cut finances through financial intelligence and international norms, tighten borders, prosecute crime networks, counter online radicalisation and isolate sponsors.
  • Limits of the analogy: ideology, grievance and identity still drive many groups, so counter-radicalisation and development remain necessary.

Close with · Treating terrorism as an industry means bankrupting it, which SDG 16.4, significantly reduce illicit financial and arms flows by 2030, asks of every State, while politics drains the demand that keeps it in business.

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  • UNSC Resolution 1373 (2001): all States shall prevent and suppress terror financing and criminalise fund collection for terrorism.UN Security Council Resolution 1373 (2001), text hosted by UNODC ↗“1. Decides that all States shall: (a) Prevent and suppress the financing of terrorist acts; (b) Criminalize the wilful provision or collection, by any means, directly or indirectly, of funds by their nationals or in their territories”
  • FATF, 21 October 2022: Pakistan no longer under increased monitoring, after four years on the grey list.FATF: Pakistan country page, 21 October 2022 ↗“Nicaragua and Pakistan are no longer subject to increased monitoring by the FATF.”
  • UN 1267 sanctions regime: assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo on everyone on the ISIL (Da'esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions List.UN Security Council: ISIL (Da'esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee page ↗“the assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo affecting all individuals and entities on the ISIL (Da'esh) & Al-Qaida Sanctions List.”
  • Origin of the 1267 regime: resolution 1267 (1999) first imposed a limited air embargo and assets freeze on the Taliban.UN Security Council: 1267 Committee background ↗“The Committee was initially established pursuant to resolution 1267 (1999) , which imposed a limited air embargo and assets freeze on the Taliban.”
  • SDG 16.4 wording: significantly reduce illicit financial and arms flows and combat organised crime by 2030.UN SDG 16 targets (sdgs.un.org) ↗“Target 16.4 By 2030, significantly reduce illicit financial and arms flows, strengthen the recovery and return of stolen assets and combat all forms of organized crime”

Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2016, GS Paper III — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 3 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·

Model answer· 296words · Minimalist IAS

Terror groups today run budgets, supply chains, brands and recruitment drives, and compete for money, members and media attention much as firms compete for market share. The analogy illuminates their economics.

How terrorism behaves like a competitive industry

  • Revenue streams: extortion, ransom, narcotics, smuggling, illegal mining and oil sales, as by ISIS in Syria and Iraq; money moves by hawala, shell companies and virtual currencies.
  • Supply chain: arms, explosives, fake currency and safe houses from organised crime; the 1993 Mumbai blasts ran through smuggling networks, India's own crime-terror nexus.
  • Competition for share: spectacle wins recruits and sponsors; after 2014 affiliates switched between al-Qaeda and ISIS.
  • Branding and franchising: a global name, media wings and online magazines market the cause to lone actors, while local groups adopt the franchise.
  • Labour and capital: paid trainers, bomb-makers and hackers, foreign fighters, and State sponsors investing in proxies as low-cost policy.
RevenueSupply chainBrandLabourState capitalRivalryTerror asindustry

Terror as industry: Revenue; Supply chain; Brand; Labour; State capital; Rivalry

The full answer goes on to cover

  1. What follows for counter-terrorism
  2. Limits of the industry analogy

Read the full model answer (296 words) →

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.

GS Paper III 2016 · Q20

12½ marks · 200 words

Use of Internet and social media by non-state actors for subversive activities is a major security concern. How have these been misused in the recent past? Suggest effective guidelines to curb the above threat.

Approach · directive: “how / suggest”

What it asks · Describe how terrorists, insurgents and other non-state actors have misused the internet and social media, and suggest guidelines that reduce the threat without harming freedom of speech.

It asks 2 things — answer each

  1. How: the internet and social media have been misused by non-state actors in the recent past
  2. Suggest: effective guidelines to curb the threat without harming free speech

Open with · A paradox: the network that lets a village sell online also lets a handful of people reach millions anonymously for propaganda, recruitment and rumour; since speech may be curbed only on Article 19(2) grounds, guidelines must be lawful as well as effective.

Cover

  • Misuse, radicalisation: propaganda videos, online recruitment and grooming of young people by terror groups such as ISIS, including through encrypted messaging apps.
  • Misuse, rumours and hate: fake news and doctored videos that incite panic and communal violence, as in the 2012 exodus of northeast people from some cities.
  • Misuse, mobilisation and crime: coordination of protests and violence, funding through crowdfunding and crypto assets, arms and drug trade on the dark web, and cyber attacks and hacking.
  • Legal tools: the Information Technology Act, 2000, including blocking under section 69A with safeguards, monitoring and interception, and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
  • Guidelines, platforms: due diligence, quick takedown and grievance redressal by intermediaries, cooperation on user information, and transparency, as in the 2021 IT Rules.
  • Guidelines, capacity: strong cyber units, CERT-In and a national cyber crime coordination centre, monitoring of extremist content and counter-narratives, and digital literacy.
  • Safeguards: any restriction must be lawful, necessary and proportionate, since free speech can be restricted only on the grounds listed in Article 19(2).

Close with · Online security rests on institutions as much as takedowns; SDG 16.a asks States to strengthen national institutions to prevent violence and combat terrorism and crime, and a trained I4C-police-platform chain under judicial oversight is India's version of it.

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Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2016, GS Paper III — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 3 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·

Model answer· 298words · Minimalist IAS

The network that lets a village sell online also lets a few people reach millions anonymously for propaganda, recruitment and rumour. Since speech may be curbed only on Article 19(2) grounds, guidelines must be lawful as well as effective.

How non-state actors misused the internet in the recent past

  • Radicalisation: ISIS used videos, online magazines and encrypted apps to recruit, including a few Indian youth.
  • Rumour and riot: doctored images and mass messages drove the 2012 exodus of north-eastern people from Bengaluru; a fake video fed the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots.
  • Mobilisation: separatists used social media to organise stone-pelting in Kashmir in 2016.
  • Crime and espionage: crowdfunding and virtual currencies for terror funds, dark-web arms and drugs, and honey-trapping of defence personnel.

The full answer goes on to cover

  1. Effective guidelines to curb the threat

With 1 flowchart you can reproduce in the exam.

Read the full model answer (298 words) →

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.

The Syllabus X-Ray of this syllabus line

2 of its 8 sub-topics are Core

2 Core · 0 High · 3 Steady · 3 Rare

  • Core #54Cross-border terrorism & state sponsors · 7 questions
  • Core #63Terror financing, hawala & narco-terror · 7 questions

The X-Ray ranks all 928 sub-topics of the UPSC syllabus by what UPSC has asked since 2016. The 78 Mains Core sub-topics are behind 66% of Mains questions.

See the whole X-Ray →

The same ground in Prelims

From the UPSC Blog

More of GS Paper III

Quick answers

How many UPSC Mains questions have been asked on External actors & internal security?

20 questions in GS Paper III from 2016 to 2026, asked in 6 of 11 years, most recently in 2026. Each is above, newest first, with the demand, an approach and a model answer.

What does the UPSC syllabus say on External actors & internal security?

The GS Paper III syllabus line reads, in UPSC's words: “Role of external state and non-state actors in creating challenges to internal security.”

Where are the GS Paper III PYQs topic-wise as a free PDF?

The GS Paper III syllabus-wise PDF — every question since 2016 under its syllabus line, with an approach — is a free download on the Vault's downloads page (one sign-up, no cost).

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