The Age of Anxious Peace

India’s internal security environment in 2025 reflects a complex interaction between longstanding conflict patterns and rapidly evolving threats.

- Ajai Sahni

Manifest violence in the country’s multiple insurgencies has dipped dramatically, from a peak of 5,504 fatalities in 2001—including J&K, Northeast, Left Wing Extremist (LWE), and Islamist terrorism outside these theatres. This was down to 654 fatalities in 2025 (including 501 militants), of which just 92 in J&K (46 militants), 474 in LWE (889 militants), 70 in the Northeast (63 militants), 12 in other Islamist terrorism (one suicide bomber) and six in Punjab (including two militants). The South Asia Terrorism Portal data (till December 27, 2025) indicates clearly that, though these threats are yet to be neutralised, the present stage is one of rapid attrition of surviving insurgent forces, with kill ratios dramatically skewed against militants.