It has been 14 years since India’s financial capital, Mumbai, was struck by a gruesome terrorist attack on November 26, 2008, and the horrendous attacks inflicted deep scars on the psyche of every Indian. Ten dreadful terrorists belonging to the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terror outfit, unleashed hours of carnage in which 166 innocent people lost their lives.

In the aftermath of the 26/11 Mumbai attack, the Indian government has taken several steps to put an anti-terror security framework in place. The attacks, which lasted for almost four days, exposed several gaping loopholes in India’s security apparatus. Then Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, who took over the office immediately after the terror strike, introduced an ambitious programme to overhaul the country’s internal security apparatus.

The 26/11 attackers, all Pakistani nationals, had reached Mumbai via the sea route from Karachi across the Arabian Sea. They had hijacked an Indian fishing trawler Kuber, and forced its captain to sail to Mumbai. The ease with which the LeT attackers had reached Mumbai exposed India’s incompetence to protect its coastal cities.

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The 26/11 attacks led to the transformation of the management of India’s coastal and maritime security. The government took bold measures for the better vigilance of India’s sprawling coastline which included the raising of Sagar Prahari Bal (SPB) and the induction of fast interceptor crafts (FIC). Till November 2021, more than 300 coastal security exercises were conducted with state authorities by the Indian Coast Guard since the 26/11 attack.

Sea Vigil, the extensive coastal defence exercise conceptualised in 2018, is being carried out since 2019 by the Indian Navy in coordination with the Indian Coast Guard and agencies involved in the tasks of maritime activities.

The Union government passed the NIA Act, of 2008 and created the National Investigation Agency (NIA). The government gave this agency the mandate to investigate and prosecute terrorism-related cases affecting the sovereignty, security and integrity of the country.

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Most importantly, Mumbai Police is now much better prepared to tackle a terror attack of this scale. Mumbai Police now has improved systems, training and weaponry. Their coordination with other security agencies is also far better today.

India’s intelligence-sharing with premier western agencies like the FBI and MI6 has become better than it was in 2008. Now India can expect timely actionable intelligence well before a dastardly terror attack.

India’s counter-terrorism capabilities have also now improved by leaps and bounds. National Security Guard (NSG) hubs have been set up in different states in order to ensure a rapid response to terror attacks.

(Edited by : Priyanka Deshpande)