THE official agencies might have now spelt out openly the threat of high-technology activity by terror outfits, all right, but they had been tackling the challenge for at least ten years, to say the least. But if the terror outfits have resorted to hi-tech activity, official agencies, too, have been following the route almost simultaneously. For reasons of their own, however, the official agencies appear to have started speaking about invasion of high technology in perpetuating terror activities across borders -- not only in Indian context but also everywhere in the world. Possibly, having gained a sure upper hand in hi-tech tackling of terror activity, the official agencies appear to have chosen to start speaking of that domain openly. In fact, at least in Jammu and Kashmir, terrorists had been engaged in high technology activity for at least ten years -- sending in high-flying surveillance gears such not just to assess what the Indian official agencies were doing, but also possibly mount distance-regulated attacks through unmanned vehicles that achieved higher precision in hitting their targets.

 

The official agencies, too, showed an equal -- and even smarter -- efficiency in handling such devices to combat terror. That did involve a lot of money, all right, but the operations started becoming safer and more daredevil -- which both sides started noting. Thus, the current acknowledgement of hi-tech terror activity by India’s official agencies appears to have been done with a specific purpose whose details the common people are never likely to know. The recent “Operation Sindoor” was one official statement of high technology response to the enemy activities. The Government gave a blanket permission to the security forces and agencies to make the fullest possible use of high technology to hit precise enemy targets of their own choice and at the time of their choosing. Instructions were clear that there had to be no escalation from the Indian side, but there also was not to be any shrinking if the other side escalated activity. Exactly that happened, and the Indian side proved its merit over and above the enemy capabilities well beyond anybody’s guess or assessment.

 

The official recognition that the terrorists have started resorting to technology-based Over Ground Workers (OGW) makes it clear that the Indian security agencies and services would from now onward never hesitate to enter conflict with a near-total dependence on Unmanned Vehicles (drones) and annihilate the enemy without mercy. They official agencies have recognised the increased reliance of the terror outfits on unmanned, mechanised devices that can achieve desired results from a height of several hundred feet in the air.

 

Those activities could include supply-chain management, precision-attacks on chosen targets -- without the loss of human component. India’s official agencies also are fully equipped with a similar approach and have started responding to the enemy activity in no-nonsense terms. It is against this background that the statement of Chief of Defence Services General Anil Chauhan assumes a great importance about the role high technology devices are expected to play in changing security paradigms. It must be noted with a sense of pride that India’s defence researchers and technologists have made great strides in advancing their reliance on modern machines -- which was evident during the first phase of “Operation Sindoor”. That conflict showed to the world the Indian prowess in this regard. Of course, the world has made rapid strides in this regard and the technology is available even to non-state players such as terrorists. This has posed altogether different challenges before official agencies -- of India and of other countries -- about which General Anil Chauhan spoke so much at length.