May 12, 2026
NEW DELHI – India’s intelligence agencies have flagged a renewed terror strategy by the Islamic State (IS), warning that the outfit is attempting to orchestrate Sri Lanka-style attacks in the country by deploying radicalised foreign operatives from neighbouring nations, according to media reports.
Officials tracking the terror network said the Islamic State is now increasingly relying on recruits from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Maldives and Sri Lanka to infiltrate India and execute both propaganda operations and large-scale terror strikes, amid heightened surveillance and sustained crackdowns on local radical modules within the country.
An Intelligence Bureau official said India’s internal anti-radicalisation and counter-terror operations have significantly weakened the outfit’s ability to recruit directly from within the country. However, the terror group is now attempting to bypass those barriers by using foreign-based operatives with stronger levels of indoctrination and limited intelligence footprints in India.
New cross-border strategy raises alarm
According to officials, the Islamic State has built dedicated operational wings in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Maldives and Sri Lanka, with each unit assigned specific geographical targets in India.
Security agencies believe Bangladesh-based modules are primarily attempting to push recruits into eastern states such as West Bengal and Bihar, while operatives from Sri Lanka and Maldives are being used to target southern India.
Officials said travel routes from these neighbouring countries into India are comparatively easier, making infiltration attempts a growing concern for security agencies.
The warning comes amid fresh assessments that the Islamic State is trying to revive its influence in the region after repeated setbacks in India over the past several years.
Sri Lanka Easter Bombings cast long shadow
Investigators have linked previous radicalisation cases in South India to the same extremist network behind the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka.
Officials pointed to the cases of Jamesha Mubin in Tamil Nadu and Mohammad Sharique in Mangaluru, both accused in separate terror-linked incidents. According to investigators, both men were radicalised by Zahran Hashim, the Sri Lankan extremist who masterminded the Easter bombings.
Hashim, who headed the Islamic State module in Sri Lanka, had reportedly travelled to South India and stayed there for a considerable period, during which he established contacts and spread extremist ideology.
Though both attempted attacks in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka ultimately failed, agencies view them as evidence of the Islamic State’s efforts to build cross-border radical networks targeting India.
Bangladesh module under sharp watch
Officials said the highest threat perception currently stems from Bangladesh-based modules.
A recent edition of Dabiq, the Islamic State’s propaganda publication, reportedly carried an article titled “The Revival of Jihad in Bengal,” which agencies interpreted as an attempt to radicalise youth and expand the group’s influence in eastern India.
Security officials said this marks one of the clearest indications yet of Bangladesh-based IS networks attempting to directly push their agenda into India.
Maldives emerging as southern gateway
While agencies believe Sri Lanka’s Islamic State infrastructure suffered major damage after the Easter bombings crackdown, officials cautioned that the threat from the island nation has not been completely eliminated.
Instead, agencies are increasingly focusing on Maldives as a possible transit and recruitment hub for operations targeting southern India.
Officials said the Islamic State views foreign recruits as more effective because they are often more deeply radicalised and remain less known to Indian intelligence databases compared to homegrown operatives.
Aim is to trigger local modules
Intelligence officials said the broader objective behind such attacks goes beyond immediate destruction.
The Islamic State, they said, hopes that successful strikes by foreign operatives inside India could become a recruitment tool and inspire dormant or weakened local modules to launch future attacks.
According to officials, several attempts by India-based IS sympathisers to carry out attacks in recent years have failed due to timely intervention by security agencies.
The terror outfit now believes that high-impact attacks executed by foreign fighters could act as a trigger for fresh radicalisation and motivate local operatives to emulate similar strikes within the country.
Security agencies said surveillance and counter-terror monitoring along vulnerable routes have been intensified amid concerns over the evolving threat landscape.