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In today’s India, the threat to internal security is no longer limited to the battlefields or borders. It often begins with a phone call, a fishing link or a message on social media. Cyber fraud, once a sporadic disturbance, has developed in an organized ecosystem that hunts on common citizens.
To compete, the Ministry of Home Affairs established the Cyber Crime Coordination Center (I4C) of the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination, which is a nodal body, which has put police stations, banks and telecom networks together. The helpline now handles around 60,000 calls a day, and coordinated action has blocked thousands of fraud SIM cards and digital identity. These are less visible but deeply resulting battles that define India’s security today.
In 2024 alone, through these platforms, and about 36.37 lakh financial fraud cases were reported. 5,500 crore were recovered through the mechanism under the I4C. But cyberspace is only one of the several borders in India’s internal security structure.
It is in navigating these challenging boundaries that Home Minister Amit Shah has left a separate impression. On August 5, 2025, he became India’s longest serving Home Minister, crossing the record of LK Advani. His tenure has not only been about longevity, but also to explain what internal security means in the 21st century to fight against the digital field against drugs, terrorism and organized crime. In the last decade, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has constantly underlined that internal security is the cornerstone of national progress. The milestone represents a continuous attempt how the state protects itself in an era where the danger keyboard or cartel is likely to emerge from the militant stronghold.
The most of these challenges are drug men’s under pressure, often described as Death Crescent and Death Triangle in the corridors of global narcotics. The Ministry of Home Affairs rolled out a coordinated crack by adding state police forces, customs and intelligence agencies through a general database. From the ports of Gujarat to the Indo-Myanmar border, heroin visits, methemfetamine and synthetic drugs have increased. But the war on drugs is not only about addiction – it has been about cutting the financial lifestyle that maintain extremist networks.
Overlap between drugs and extremism comes in a sharp focus in the fight against terrorism. Since 2019, the government has pushed for more financial inquiry into anti -terrorism laws and terrorist networks. Agencies have used data analytics to choke the flow of money for extremist outfits. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has widen its footprint, while the grassroots intelligence-sharing has strengthened the reactions to the strike.
This theory has been the most tested in Kashmir. After the cancellation of Article 370 in 2019, a delicate safety infection was aimed at normalizing daily life, while keeping extremism in check. Although challenges remain, there has been a rapid decline in incidents of stone-pelting and organized road violence. In addition, the investment summit and infrastructure push was deployed as part of the security theory – to overcome economic stability as a counterweight for separatism.
The relationship that these stories are together is a change in India’s approach to internal security: ranging from reactive responses to the creation of strong institutions that may be suitable for developing dangers. Whether cyber surveillance, drug enforcement, or through counter-encecaty, focus on designing structures beyond individual crises.
As India looks forward, it will be a challenge to maintain these benefits while being cautious for new weaknesses. If the last six years are about resetting the foundation, the next stage should be about making flexibility.
This article is written by Divya Dhingra, PhD, IIT Delhi.
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