Global Terrorism Index 2026 Highlights Growing Concentration, Digitalisation and Conflict-Linked Evolution of Global Terrorism Landscape

Recent Developments:

• The 13th edition of the Global Terrorism Index (GTI) 2026 reported that terrorism-related deaths declined by 28% and terrorist incidents fell by 22% in 2025, recording the lowest levels since 2007.
• Despite the overall decline, the report highlighted that terrorism is becoming more concentrated, decentralised, digitally driven and closely linked to armed conflicts, creating new challenges for global security.
• The Global Terrorism Index is published annually by the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP), an independent, non-profit think tank headquartered in Sydney, Australia.

Global Terrorism Index (GTI):

About GTI:

• The Global Terrorism Index (GTI) is the world's leading report measuring the impact of terrorism across 163 countries, covering about 99.7% of the global population.
• The index evaluates countries using four indicators, number of terrorist incidents, fatalities, injuries and hostages, with scores calculated using a five-year weighted average to reflect the long-term impact of terrorism.
• The report uses data from the IEP Terrorism Tracker and other verified datasets to analyse long-term global terrorism trends.

Major Findings of GTI 2026:

• Global terrorism continued its downward trend, with 5,582 deaths and 2,944 incidents recorded during 2025, representing the lowest levels in nearly two decades.
• Pakistan became the most terrorism-affected country for the first time, while India ranked 13th globally.
• Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly the Sahel region, remained the global epicentre of terrorism, accounting for more than half of worldwide terrorism deaths.
• Islamic State (IS) remained the world's deadliest terrorist organisation, while JNIM, TTP, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Al-Shabaab continued to dominate regional terrorist activity.

Emerging Trends in Global Terrorism:

Geographical Concentration:

• Nearly 70% of global terrorism-related deaths occurred in Pakistan, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Niger and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, indicating increasing geographical concentration.
• Terrorism is shifting from a global phenomenon to a few high-intensity conflict zones.

Conflict-Driven Terrorism:

• Nearly 99% of terrorism-related deaths occurred in countries experiencing armed conflict, fragile governance or political instability, highlighting the strong relationship between conflict and violent extremism.

Digitalisation and Decentralisation:

• Terrorist organisations increasingly rely on online radicalisation, encrypted communication, social media recruitment, lone-wolf attacks and autonomous cells, making early detection more difficult.
• Youth radicalisation has emerged as a major concern, with lone-wolf attacks becoming increasingly common in Western countries.

Border-Centric Terrorism:

• More than three-fourths of terrorist attacks occurred within 100 km of international borders, facilitating infiltration, arms trafficking, illegal financing and movement of militants.

Adaptive Terror Networks:

• Terrorist organisations increasingly function through smaller decentralised modules, exploit local grievances and rapidly modify operational tactics to evade counter-terrorism responses.

Impact of Geopolitical Conflicts:

• Prolonged conflicts in West Asia, political instability and fragile states continue to create favourable conditions for terrorist resurgence and emergence of new extremist organisations.

Understanding Terrorism:

Meaning of Terrorism:

• There is no universally accepted legal definition of terrorism because of differing political, legal and diplomatic perspectives among countries.
• Most accepted definitions include use or threat of violence, targeting civilians or non-combatants, creation of fear and pursuit of political, ideological or religious objectives.

United Nations Perspective:

• The United Nations broadly describes terrorism as criminal acts intended to cause death or serious injury, spread terror among civilians or compel governments and international organisations to act.

Legal Position in India:

• The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023 defines terrorist acts as activities threatening India's sovereignty, unity, integrity, security or economic stability through violence, destruction of critical infrastructure, kidnapping or counterfeit currency.
• Section 15 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA) provides India's principal statutory definition of a terrorist act, while Section 2(1)(k) links the legal interpretation of terrorism to this provision.

India's Counter-Terrorism Doctrine:

Zero-Tolerance Policy:

• India follows a zero-tolerance approach that rejects any distinction between terrorists and their sponsors while maintaining that no political, ideological or religious cause can justify terrorism.

Proactive and Preventive Strategy:

• India's doctrine has shifted from reactive response to intelligence-led preventive action, supported by precision operations, enhanced surveillance and calibrated retaliation.
• The doctrine has been demonstrated through the 2016 Surgical Strikes, 2019 Balakot Air Strike and Operation Sindoor (2025).

PRAHAAR Framework:

• The PRAHAAR Framework institutionalises intelligence-led pre-emptive deterrence, while clearly separating terrorism from any religion, ethnicity or civilisation.

Four Strategic Pillars:

• Legislative Empowerment.
• Institutional Strengthening.
• Decisive Action Against Cross-Border Terrorism.
• Multilateral Counter-Terror Architecture.

Four Pillars of India's Counter-Terror Policy:

Legislative Empowerment:

• Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act, 2019 enabled designation of individual terrorists, expanded NIA powers and widened jurisdiction over cyberterrorism and offences affecting Indian interests abroad.
• National Investigation Agency (Amendment) Act, 2019 strengthened investigation of offences outside India and attachment of terror-linked properties.
• Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) Amendments strengthened action against terror financing, hawala networks and cryptocurrency-based funding.
• Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 introduced a comprehensive statutory framework covering terrorism, organised crime, recruitment, harbouring, financing and conspiracy.
• Arms (Amendment) Act, 2019 strengthened firearm regulation through stricter penalties and digital licensing.

Strengthening Institutions:

• The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has expanded through increased funding, 53 Special NIA Courts, additional regional offices and establishment of the National Terror Database Fusion and Analysis Centre (NTDFAC).
• The NIA has achieved a conviction rate of about 92.7% in terrorism-related cases.
• The Multi-Agency Centre (MAC) integrates intelligence from 28 agencies, while the Cyber Multi-Agency Centre (2025) strengthens cyber threat monitoring.
• NATGRID integrates immigration, banking, telecom and travel databases, connecting 11 Central User Agencies and all States and Union Territories.
• CCTNS 2.0 uses Artificial Intelligence-enabled data integration for seamless sharing of criminal intelligence.
• The Assistance to States for Modernisation of Police Scheme has enhanced forensic capacity, surveillance systems, secure communication and specialised counter-terror capabilities.

Operations Against Cross-Border Terrorism:

• Surgical Strikes (2016) targeted terrorist launch pads across the Line of Control following the Uri attack.
• Balakot Air Strike (2019) targeted a Jaish-e-Mohammed training facility after the Pulwama attack.
• Operation Sindoor (2025) reinforced India's doctrine of swift, precise and proportionate retaliation against cross-border terrorism.

Multilateral and Diplomatic Counter-Terror Architecture:

• India actively participates in the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) framework to combat terror financing.
• India hosted the 3rd No Money for Terror Ministerial Conference (2022) to strengthen global cooperation against terrorist financing.
• India continues to advocate the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) at the United Nations.
• India secured the UN designation of Masood Azhar as a global terrorist in 2019.
• Tahawwur Rana was extradited from the United States to India in 2025.
• India maintains Joint Working Groups on Counter-Terrorism with 27 countries and 5 multilateral forums.
• BHARATPOL (2025) connects Indian law enforcement agencies with INTERPOL for improved international coordination.
• The Delhi Declaration (2022) provides guiding principles for countering misuse of drones, digital technologies, social media and online terror financing.

Challenges Before India:

Cross-Border State-Sponsored Terrorism:

• Persistent support to terrorist infrastructure across borders continues to remain India's foremost security challenge.

Cyber and Digital Radicalisation:

• Encrypted platforms, artificial intelligence, deepfakes and anonymous communication complicate intelligence gathering and prevention.

Emerging Technologies:

• Increasing misuse of drones, cryptocurrencies, darknet platforms and unmanned systems has transformed terrorist capabilities.

Border Management:

• Difficult terrain, porous borders and maritime vulnerabilities continue to facilitate infiltration and illegal movement.

Balancing Security and Civil Liberties:

• Counter-terrorism measures must remain consistent with constitutional values, human rights and the rule of law.

Way Forward:

Integrated Intelligence:

• Strengthen real-time intelligence fusion, predictive analytics and Artificial Intelligence-based threat assessment.

Border Security:

• Expand smart fencing, anti-drone systems, satellite surveillance and integrated border management.

Counter-Radicalisation:

• Promote community participation, digital literacy, deradicalisation programmes and credible counter-narratives.

International Cooperation:

• Enhance intelligence sharing, extradition cooperation, financial surveillance and implementation of UN Security Council counter-terrorism resolutions.

Technology-Driven Counter-Terrorism:

• Strengthen capabilities in cyber forensics, blockchain analytics, financial intelligence, biometric surveillance and drone detection.

Value Addition for UPSC:

Important International Counter-Terrorism Frameworks:

• United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy (2006) is the first global strategy adopted by consensus to address conditions conducive to terrorism, prevent and combat terrorism, strengthen State capacity and uphold human rights.
• UN Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) coordinates implementation of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy.
• Financial Action Task Force (FATF) develops global standards against money laundering, terror financing and proliferation financing.
• UN Security Council Resolution 1373 (2001) obligates States to criminalise terror financing, deny safe havens and strengthen international cooperation.
• UN Security Council Resolution 1566 (2004) provides widely accepted elements of terrorist acts despite the absence of a universally accepted legal definition.
• Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT), proposed by India in 1996, seeks to establish a comprehensive international legal framework against terrorism but remains under negotiation due to disagreements over the definition of terrorism