Investigations into November 10, 2025 suicide bombing at Red Fort, busting of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) module in Ahmedabad and the ISI module operated by gangster Shahzad Bhatti in the past two months have pin-pointed towards a national security threat of online radicalization and tasking by those countries adversarial to India. This apart, many instances of ‘honey traps’ have been unearthed by security agencies in the Indian armed forces and paramilitary forces handling VVIP security.
The Ahmedabad module operated by one Dr Adnan, one in-charge of JeM operations against India, revealed how Indians get radicalized over religion, ideology, sexual promises and most importantly over a few pieces of silver. The rot has spread deep into the system as a result of which Home Minister Amit Shah has strengthened the counter-intelligence apparatus of the Intelligence Bureau (IB). The recent arrest of foreigners trying to enter into sensitive areas of India without proper documentation have also indicated towards inimical forces operating against the Modi government and the country at large.
Pakistan which is at the forefront of subversion, sabotage and terrorism against India radicalizes Indians, particularly Muslims, on religious lines and victimization narratives. Others in India are either honey trapped or purchased for delivering sensitive information which could be used at a later stage. Rawalpindi in fact is used conveniently by third powers like China and the west to garner classified information against India.
While the Modi government puts national security as a top priority, Indian intelligence needs to add sharp teeth to its counter-intelligence and operational capabilities in order to weed out the subversives within the civilian and military establishment. While CI is a laborious and tedious work, these traitors within the sensitive establishments must be prosecuted under the law if India plans to become a developed country by 2047.
{{/usCountry}}While the Modi government puts national security as a top priority, Indian intelligence needs to add sharp teeth to its counter-intelligence and operational capabilities in order to weed out the subversives within the civilian and military establishment. While CI is a laborious and tedious work, these traitors within the sensitive establishments must be prosecuted under the law if India plans to become a developed country by 2047.
{{/usCountry}}For the past decades, the main focus of Indian intelligence has been Pakistan while adversaries like China have remained opaque and the west has virtually been given a free pass. Rather than focus on pre-emption and expanding operational capabilities, Indian intelligence has been satisfied with post-event analysis instead of providing actionable intelligence to the consumers.
However, under Home Minister Amit Shah, the IB has not only been given an increased budget but also a tremendous boost in manpower to firewall the sensitive establishments through expanded CI.
Exploiting Indian chaotic democracy and its secular attitude, India’s adversaries have been having a field day in the country with the principal objective of checking the rise of Bharat. The Indian intelligence on the other hand finds it difficult to operate in adversarial countries with the latter using pre-emptive accusations to gaslight India. The Indian diplomats more than often suffer from ‘localitis’ syndrome in the west rather than sternly take up New Delhi’s concerns.
With the Modi government pursuing independent foreign policy or what is called strategic autonomy, the intelligence agencies cannot afford to function as normal government departments doing routine analysis. Given that Pakistan is de facto ruled by a military dictator who hates Hindus, China by one man party, Myanmar by military junta, Nepal by a relatively inexperienced leader, Indian intelligence needs to prioritize human intelligence rather than stand-off technical intelligence. They also need to watch out against the Anglo-Saxon countries who want to impose their type of democracy and values on India and often use homegrown social media platforms to orchestrate narratives which generate discontent within Bharat. It is a fallacy to believe that India’s rise in the world will be benign, it will be contested by friends and foes alike.