Amit Shah Inaugurates Anti-Terrorism Conference 2025 in New Delhi; Calls for Unified ATS Structure and Technology-Driven Counter-Terror Grid

Union Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated the two-day Anti-Terrorism Conference 2025 in New Delhi on December 26, 2025, organised by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) under the Ministry of Home Affairs. The conference convened senior police officers from States and Union Territories, officials from central agencies, and experts from the legal, forensic and technology domains to strengthen inter-agency coordination against terrorism and organised crime. During the inauguration, Shah launched three significant initiatives: the updated NIA Crime Manual, the Organised Crime Network Database (OCND) — India's first AI-powered centralised repository tracking organised crime networks — and the Lost, Looted and Recovered Weapons Database. The Home Minister urged agencies to adopt a Whole of Government approach, shifting from a need-to-know to a duty-to-share culture so that intelligence flows seamlessly across the federal structure. He called for a common Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) structural template across States and UTs to ensure operational uniformity, standardised training and coordinated counter-action. Shah directed mandatory use of the NATGRID and NIDAAN platforms in specified investigations and referenced recent operational successes including Operation Sindoor — which he said punished those who planned a major terror attack — and Operation Mahadev, which neutralised those who executed it. He emphasised that security agencies must stay two steps ahead of adversaries and described the new architecture as a 360-degree assault on the organised-crime-terrorism nexus. The conference discussions also focused on counter-radicalisation, terror financing, and future-ready counter-terror strategies.