Country Report on Terrorism 2024 - Chapter 1 - India

Country Overview: India’s counterterrorism efforts addressed domestic threats and Pakistan-based terror groups.  India considers ISIS as a serious long-term threat.  In 2024, the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, the northeastern states, and parts of central and southern India experienced terrorist attacks.  Terrorist groups active in India include ISIS, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Hizbul Mujahideen, AQIS, the Communist Party of India-Maoist, Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, and Hizb ut-Tahrir.  On July 1, India introduced new laws that included a definition of terrorism, a requirement for forensic evidence for serious crimes, and reinforced terrorism-related sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act of 1967.

Indian special forces killed 287 armed Maoists and arrested 992.  The National Investigation Agency investigated 17 cases related to terrorism and arrested 11 individuals with suspected links to ISIS and 29 affiliated with other terror groups.  In November, the National Investigation Agency held its first Anti-Terror Conference.  The Ministry of Home Affairs also announced it planned to release a new national counterterrorism policy and strategy.

Incursions by unmanned aircraft systems—often carrying weapons, ammunition, explosives, narcotics, or counterfeit currency—increasingly challenged India’s borders.  Federal and state police monitored online terrorist content and messaging.  In Jammu & Kashmir and areas affected by Maoist violence, security forces ran schools, medical camps, and provided training to deter recruitment.

In June, the FATF adopted India’s Mutual Evaluation Report, calling on India to strengthen the prosecution of money laundering and terrorist financing, and to protect its non-profit sector from terrorist financing risks.  U.S.-India counterterrorism cooperation included the 20th Counterterrorism Joint Working Group held in March in Washington.  India participated in the second Quad Counterterrorism Working Group (QCTWG) in November in Tokyo and will host the next QCTWG in 2025.

2024 Terrorism Trends:  On January 30, three paramilitary troops from the Central Reserve Police Force were killed, and 15 others were injured in a gunfight with Communist Party of India-Maoist forces in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh.  On March 1, a low-intensity IED planted by suspected ISIS sympathizers exploded in a café in Bengaluru, Karnataka state, injuring nine individuals.  On June 9, an unknown gunman, suspected to be linked to LeT, ambushed a bus of Hindu pilgrims in Reasi, Jammu, killing nine individuals.  On October 20, seven civilians were killed when terrorists stormed the construction site of a road tunnel in Gulmarg, Kashmir.  A suspected JeM affiliate claimed the attack.  India declared Hizb ut-Tahrir a terrorist organization.

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