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UPSC Mains 2025 · GS Paper III · Q9

UPSC Mains 2025 GS3 Q9: model answer

Terrorism is a global scourge. How has it manifested in India ? Elaborate with contemporary examples. What are the counter measures adopted by the State ? Explain.

10 marks150 wordsDirective: Elaborate

What the question wants

Forms of terrorism in India with recent examples, then State response.

How to structure it

Intro: Terrorism is the use of violence against civilians to create fear for political ends. Body: (1) Manifestations: Cross-border terrorism in J&K, Urban attacks, Insurgency-linked violence, New forms; (2) Counter measures: Law, Institutions, Military response, Diplomacy. Conclusion: Lasting success needs zero tolerance abroad and community trust at home.

How to structure the answer
IntroductionTerrorism is the use of violence against civilians to create fear for political ends
Body: elaborate
  1. 1(1) Manifestations: Cross-border terrorism in J&K, Urban attacks, Insurgency-linked violence, New forms
  2. 2(2) Counter measures: Law, Institutions, Military response, Diplomacy
ConclusionLasting success needs zero tolerance abroad and community trust at home

Model answer

Terrorism is the use of violence against civilians to create fear for political ends. India has faced it for decades, mostly with cross-border sponsorship.

Manifestations

  • Cross-border terrorism in J&K: Pulwama (2019); Pahalgam attack on tourists in April 2025, which killed 26 people.
  • Urban attacks: Mumbai 26/11 (2008).
  • Insurgency-linked violence: Left Wing Extremism and some North-East groups.
  • New forms: online radicalisation, drones dropping arms in Punjab, narco-terror and terror financing through crypto.

Counter measures

  • Law: UAPA, amended in 2019 to designate individuals as terrorists; NIA Act amended in 2019.
  • Institutions: NIA, NSG, Multi-Agency Centre, NATGRID.
  • Military response: surgical strikes (2016), Balakot (2019), Operation Sindoor (May 2025) on terror camps in Pakistan and PoK.
  • Diplomacy: FATF grey-listing pressure on Pakistan; push for a UN Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism.
  • Border and cyber: fencing, anti-drone systems, cyber monitoring.

Lasting success needs zero tolerance abroad and community trust at home.

Keywords, cases and data to drop in

cross-border terrorism Pahalgam 2025 Operation Sindoor UAPA 2019 NIA FATF

Where most answers lose marks

  • Only history, no contemporary examples.

Fresh examples from current affairs

GS2 · GS3 · International Relations · Internal Security

SCO Heads of Government meet in Dushanbe: Rajnath calls for dismantling the terror ecosystem

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh represented India at the 25th meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of Government in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, on 20 October 2026. With Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister in the room, he said there can be no justification and no double standards on terrorism. The meeting adopted the SCO budget for 2027 and a 2026–30 action plan for trade and economic cooperation.

UPSC angle: Prelims: SCO bodies and locations, new centres, INSTC. · Mains GS-II: SCO’s value for India; GS-III: terror financing.

21 Oct 2026
GS2 · International relations

First BIMSTEC Home Ministers Meeting adopts Delhi Declaration on security

India hosted the first BIMSTEC Home Ministers Meeting in New Delhi on 13 October 2026. The seven member States adopted the Delhi Declaration, condemning terrorism including cross-border terrorism, and called for full use of the BIMSTEC anti-terror and mutual legal assistance conventions. A Disaster Management Centre is planned in Jamnagar, Gujarat.

UPSC angle: Prelims: members, HMM, conventions and dates, Jamnagar centre. · Mains GS-II: regional groupings; India's neighbourhood and security cooperation.

13 Oct 2026

Question text as printed in the official UPSC question paper: https://www.upsc.gov.in/sites/default/files/GENERAL-STUDIES-PAPER-III-QP-CSM-25-010925.pdf The model answer is original Battle IAS work; use it to learn structure, not to memorise.