Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday, August 25, said the government aims to make India “infiltrator-free in a very short time” while announcing that the country’s three new criminal laws will be fully implemented within the next year.
Addressing the concluding session of the Intelligence Bureau’s National Security Strategy Conference in New Delhi, Shah said illegal infiltration posed a threat to India’s national security, economy and demographic balance.
‘India is not a Dharamshala’
Shah said the government had been working with states sharing land borders to strengthen border security. He said he had visited all such states over the past eight months and shared a document outlining a four-pronged approach to border security.
“This country is not a dharamshala and only citizens of the country have the right to live here,” Shah said.
He added that “infiltrators are a threat to the country’s security, economy and demographic change” and said the government wanted to make India free of illegal infiltrators within a short period.
Shah also said India’s security policy must take into account global instability, energy and resource insecurity, supply-chain disruptions, rising radicalisation and cyber misinformation.
New criminal laws to be fully implemented in one year
Shah said the three new criminal laws would be implemented “100 per cent” within the next year.
He said their full implementation would help ensure that criminal cases could be disposed of up to the Supreme Court within three years and increase the conviction rate by 25 per cent.
The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam came into force on July 1, 2024, replacing the Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure and Indian Evidence Act.
Shah calls for AI-based intelligence
The Home Minister also stressed the need to use technology and artificial intelligence to strengthen policing and intelligence gathering.
He said integrated databases linking the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS), Interoperable Criminal Justice System (ICJS), National Intelligence Grid (NatGrid) and National Automated Fingerprint Identification System (NAFIS) had been created.
Shah urged young police and intelligence officers to use data integration, analysis and AI to identify criminal patterns and generate actionable intelligence.
‘Detect, Disrupt and Destroy’ approach against drugs
Shah asked state police forces to implement the Narcotics Control Vision Document 2026-2029 and follow the “Detect, Disrupt and Destroy” approach to work towards a drug-free India.
He also called for the anti-terror framework “Prahar” to become part of everyday security operations and urged agencies to dismantle “360-degree terrorist networks”.
Shah credited state police forces, central agencies and Central Armed Police Forces with addressing what he described as major internal security challenges involving Naxalism, terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir and insurgency in the Northeast.
Security strategy must look 15-20 years ahead
Shah said the National Security Strategy Conference should focus on identifying threats 15 to 20 years in advance and developing measures to prevent them from becoming major challenges.
“We have to identify challenges in advance and destroy them before they become major problems,” he said.
He linked strong internal security with the government’s goal of making India a developed nation by 2047.
“If we want to become number one in every field, internal security will have to be strengthened further,” Shah said.
The two-day conference brought together senior intelligence officials, central agencies and state police forces to discuss emerging security challenges, including infiltration, terrorism, cyber misinformation, information warfare and the use of technology in national security.
