Analyse the multidimensional challenges posed by external state and non-state actors, to the internal…

Question

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.

Ghissu Editorial · Accepted Answer

External state and non-state actors threaten India through proxy terrorism, foreign sanctuaries for insurgents, narco-terror finance and cyber and information warfare, which demand smart borders, intelligence fusion, finance curbs and cyber resilience. The 2021 Mundra port seizure of about 3,000 kg of heroin exposed the narco-terror funding chain.

**Introduction**

The Pahalgam attack of April 2025 by a Lashkar-e-Taiba proxy, followed by hostile disinformation, showed how external states and non-state actors now fuse terror, crime and information warfare into one hybrid threat to internal security.

**Multidimensional Challenges from State and Non-State Actors**

SKETCH: flow | The Proxy-War Chain
- Hostile state sponsor
- Money, arms, training
- Non-state proxy
- Local grievance exploited
- Internal violence

1. **Cross-border terrorism**: Pakistan's use of Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, from 26/11 (2008) to Pulwama (2019), lets a state wage deniable war.
2. **Foreign sanctuary**: North-East insurgents such as ULFA-I have used camps in Myanmar, and the 2015 Chandel ambush in Manipur showed how such sanctuaries become attacks on Indian soil.
3. **Narco-terror finance**: The seizure of about 3,000 kg of heroin at Mundra port in 2021, drone drops across the Punjab border and hawala networks fund militancy.
4. **Cyber and information war**: The China-linked group RedEcho targeted Indian power-grid centres (Recorded Future, 2021), and ISIS has recruited Indian youth online.

**Measures Required to Combat These Threats**

1. **Smart borders**: The Comprehensive Integrated Border Management System and anti-drone systems can close infiltration gaps.
2. **Intelligence and finance**: An operational NATGRID, the NIA (Amendment) Act 2019 and the UAPA power to designate individual terrorists, together with the 2022 ban on the Popular Front of India, target the whole chain.
3. **Cyber resilience**: NCIIPC and CERT-In's six-hour incident-reporting rule (2022) shield critical infrastructure.

**Way Forward**

1. **Strategy and command**: A published National Security Strategy and a revived National Counter Terrorism Centre would unify the response.
2. **Hearts and minds**: Skilling schemes such as Himayat in Jammu and Kashmir shrink the recruitment pool.

**Conclusion**

External actors succeed only through porous borders, funding channels and alienated citizens; a whole-of-government approach that seals all three secures comprehensive national security and SDG 16.

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.

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