8th National Security Strategies (NSS) Conference

TPP
Jul 27
4 min read

Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah inaugurated the two-day 8th National Security Strategies (NSS) Conference-2025 in New Delhi on July 26, 2025. Organised by the Intelligence Bureau (IB), the conference was conducted in a hybrid format.

Approximately 800 officers from across the country took part, including the Union Home Secretary, Deputy National Security Advisor (NSA), and heads of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and Central Police Organisations (CPOs). Senior officers such as Directors General of Police (DGsP) of various states and Union Territories, along with young police officers at the grassroots level and domain experts, participated virtually from their respective state capitals.

Prior to the formal inauguration, Mr. Shah laid a wreath at the Martyrs Column, paying homage to the brave officers of the Intelligence Bureau who sacrificed their lives for national security and integrity.

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Key Security Challenges & Strategic Directives

The conference deliberated on a broad spectrum of internal and external security threats. The first day focused on the role of external actors inimical to India's interests and their domestic linkages, particularly in the narcotics trade, terror financing, and the illegal use of encrypted communication apps. Mr. Shah highlighted the urgent need to counter these threats through enhanced coordination and technological preparedness.

He urged the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to set up a forum involving stakeholders across sectors to find practical and legal solutions for countering the use of encrypted communication technologies by terror networks. (Encrypted communication apps are secure platforms often exploited by criminal and terrorist elements to mask their identity and activities.)

Agencies were also instructed to recalibrate their strategies by targeting domestic nodes of the terror-criminal nexus, especially those involved in terror financing. He also directed that the use of indigenous technology—technology developed within India—be prioritised across all police organisations to reduce reliance on foreign systems and improve cyber sovereignty.

Intelligence & Database Integration

Stressing the need for capacity building, the Home Minister called for the integration and widespread usage of national security databases among young officers. These include:

NATGRID (National Intelligence Grid) – an integrated intelligence framework linking databases of various agencies.
NIDAAN (National Integrated Database on Arrested Narco-offenders) – a centralised database of drug offenders.
iMoT (Integrated Monitoring of Terrorism) – a system for real-time monitoring of terrorism-related threats.
CBI’s fugitive database – an essential tool to track and locate absconding criminals.

He recommended that these tools be made part of mandatory training programs to build competence at the cutting-edge level.

Strategic Coordination & Capacity Building

Mr. Shah advocated the creation of homogeneous teams—joint units composed of personnel from Central and State agencies—to strengthen coordination and operational efficiency. He further encouraged healthy competition among state police forces and central agencies to improve responses to internal security challenges.

Addressing the grave issue of drug trafficking, he stressed the need for top-to-bottom and bottom-to-top approaches in targeting major drug cartels. He asked that anti-narcotics drives be made the primary agenda for police departments for the next three years, underlining that the police station is the focal point for intelligence collection.

Focus Areas on Day Two

The second day of the NSS Conference turned its focus to critical topics including:

Civil aviation and port security
Counter-terrorism measures
Left-Wing Extremism (LWE) – referring to Maoist or Naxalite insurgency
Countermeasures against narcotics trafficking

Regarding LWE, Mr. Shah stressed the need for all-round development in affected regions and urged the DGsP to collaborate with state administrations to ensure the effective implementation of over 300 central and state development schemes at the grassroots level. He also reviewed counter-terror initiatives, instructing law enforcement agencies to take strict legal action against repeat offenders.

A special emphasis was also laid on securing smaller seaports. He directed state police forces to build capacity for counter-infiltration and anti-smuggling operations, recognising the vulnerability of such ports to transnational crimes.

Conclusion

In his concluding remarks, Mr. Shah highlighted that India’s geopolitical neighbourhood will continue to influence its internal security dynamics, and therefore, both State and Central security agencies must uphold the guiding principles of “Suraksha, Sajagta, and Samanvay”—which translate to Security, Alertness, and Coordination.

The National Security Strategies Conference is a direct outcome of Prime Minister Modi’s directive during the DGsP/IGsP Conference of 2016, aimed at finding practical solutions to India’s evolving security threats by leveraging the on-ground experience of officers and the insights of domain experts. Since 2021, the conference has been held in hybrid mode to ensure wider participation and richer exchange of ideas.

Through such multi-level consultations and strategic guidance, India seeks to establish a more resilient, integrated, and forward-looking internal security architecture capable of addressing present and future challenges with agility and coordination.