India's War on Terror

Gurmeet Kanwal & N Manoharan

No nation has suffered more from terrorism than India. Since the 1990s, India has been plagued by what has come to be known as ‘New Terrorism’, which is global, amorphous, well-networked, lethal, indiscriminate, diverse, sophisticated and is conducted by highly motivated fanatics. In the recent past, India has witnessed more terrorist incidents than any other country in the world. As India is located in an unstable neighbourhood, cross-border linkages of terrorist groups have made the problem all the more complex. To counter this menace, India needs a comprehensive inter-ministerial, inter-departmental, multi-agency, multi-disciplinary counter-terrorism policy and organisational capabilities necessary to give effect to that policy.

India’s War on Terror is an attempt to take a hard look at various aspects of terrorism/counter-terrorism in today’s India and suggest suitable actions to improve and enhance the country’s counter-terrorism efforts. In two parts and 13 chapters, the book covers the entire gamut of issues pertaining to terrorism in India. Augmented by a chronology of terrorist incidents in India since 1993 and many illustrations, it is an essential reading for students, researchers, teachers, policy makers, law enforcement personnel, journalists and analysts in the field.

Gurmeet Kanwal & N Manoharan Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (Retd) commanded an infantry brigade on the Line of Control (Operation Parakram, 2001-03) and an artillery regiment in counter-insurgency operations in Kashmir Valley (Operation Rakshak, 1993-94). Formerly Director Security Studies, Observer Research Foundation; Senior Fellow, IDSA; and Senior Fellow, Centre for Air Power Studies; at present he is Director, Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS), New Delhi. Brig Kanwal has authored several books, including Nuclear Defence: Shaping the Arsenal; Indian Army: Vision 2020; Pakistan's Proxy War; Heroes of Kargil; Kargil '99: Blood, Guts and Firepower and Artillery: Honour and Glory and writes on national security issues for leading national newspapers.
N. Manoharan is currently Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Land Warfare Studies, New Delhi. He has been South Asia Visiting Fellow at the East-West Center Washington (2005) and recipient of Mahbub-ul Haq Award (2006). His areas of interest include Sri Lanka, Maldives, human rights, ethnic conflicts, multiculturalism, terrorism, and national security. His recent publications include SAARC: Towards Greater Connectivity; Ethnic Violence and Human Rights in Sri Lanka; Counterterrorism Legislation in Sri Lanka: Evaluating Efficacy. His forthcoming books are Counter-terror Laws and Security in Developing Democracies: Lessons from India and Sri Lanka and Sri Lanka: A Conflict Dictionary. He is currently working on ‘Comprehensive Internal Security Strategy for India’.