India's internal security landscape has changed irrevocably: Union Home Secretary

Hyderabad, Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan on Saturday said the conventional internal security landscape, which the country has grappled with over decades, has changed irrevocably.

Addressing the Dikshant Parade of the 78th Regular Recruit batch of IPS at the Sardar Vallabhbhai National Police Academy here, he shared Union Home Minister Amit Shah's message emphasising zero-tolerance towards terrorism, time-bound action, and improved intelligence coordination.

"The young officers have an important role to play in securing borders through the Centre's Smart Border Initiative, which involves modern techniques, integrated surveillance, digital systems and better coordination among different security agencies," Shah said.

He stressed on the need for effective action against drug trafficking networks, better coordination, technology-based investigation and raising awareness among people to realise the goal of 'Nasha-Mukt Bharat' .

Mohan urged the graduating IPS officers to prepare for new internal security challenges like narcotics, cybercrime and illegal immigration.

"In the technology domain, the young officers would encounter challenges on social media, which are now emerging in an entirely different dimension."

"Fake messages, deep fake videos, all kinds of altered reality is now available on social media. It creates unnecessary mobilisation and ultimately it leads to law and order problems," he said.

The problem of technology and social media would confront the young officers and they will have to find resources to come up with creative solutions which are as per law, he said.

On the paradigm shift in the conventional internal security landscape, Mohan said militant naxalism has largely ended, while insurgency in the North East is now reduced to minuscule levels.

"What is happening in certain parts of the North East is not insurgency. It is largely ethnic conflict," he said.

Through a series of ceasefire agreements and tripartite agreements, most of the erstwhile insurgent groups have joined the mainstream, he said.

"Homegrown terrorism has also come to, more or less, an end. Foreign-inspired terrorism, except for a few parts of the country, is no longer visible in any other part," he said.

The Union Home Minister has publicly announced that the country would be free of narcotics in three years, he said.

Regarding the challenge of cybercrime, he said it has become accessible to low-skilled actors due to the proliferation of mule bank accounts and fake SIM cards, he said.