The Islamic State (IS) has devised a new cross-border strategy to deploy radicalised operatives from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Maldives, and Sri Lanka to carry out propaganda and terror attacks inside India, according to senior intelligence officials. The plan reportedly involves exploiting relatively open travel routes from neighbouring countries to insert foreign fighters who are harder to track and, according to assessments, more deeply radicalised than domestic operatives.

The New IS Strategy: Foreign Fighters as Shock Troops

Intelligence officials say the IS has identified a critical vulnerability in India's counter-terror framework: domestic operatives are increasingly known to agencies, while foreign fighters carry little or no intelligence footprint. According to an Intelligence Bureau (IB) official, the outfit is now banking on this anonymity to mount attacks of a scale comparable to the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka, which killed over 260 people.

The official further stated that successful attacks by foreign operatives are also intended to serve as a recruitment tool — a benchmark that could inspire IS-aligned individuals within India to act independently. "Attacks by foreign operatives could set an example for the Indian operatives," the official said.

Bangladesh Module Poses Highest Threat

According to officials, the push from Bangladesh represents the most significant current threat vector. The IS's Bangladesh wing is reportedly focusing on infiltrating recruits into West Bengal and Bihar. A recent edition of Dabiq, the IS's official mouthpiece, carried an article titled 'The Revival of Jihad in Bengal' — what officials describe as the first direct attempt by the Bangladesh module to push its agenda into Indian territory. The article explicitly called on youth to dedicate themselves to armed jihad.

Sri Lanka and Maldives Modules Targeting South India

The IS's Sri Lankan module has already demonstrated a reach into southern India. Zahran Hashim, the mastermind of the Easter Sunday bombings and leader of the IS's Sri Lanka wing, had visited and stayed in South India for an extended period. During that time, he reportedly radicalised Jamesha Mubin of Tamil Nadu and Mohammad Sharique of Mangaluru — both of whom subsequently attempted attacks on Indian soil, though both were foiled by security agencies.

Post the Easter bombings, a significant portion of the Sri Lanka module was eliminated by security forces. Officials say this has shifted the primary southern push to the Maldives, whose module is now considered the more active conduit for operatives targeting South India. Travel from the Maldives into India, particularly into coastal southern states, is described as relatively accessible.

India's Counter-Radicalisation Record and Current Gaps

When the IS declared its so-called caliphate in late 2013, a number of individuals from India attempted to travel to Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan to join the outfit. Over subsequent years, intelligence and law enforcement agencies intercepted many of these attempts and launched de-radicalisation programmes that officials say brought several would-be recruits back into the mainstream.

However, officials caution that while the domestic radicalisation problem is "largely in check," the new foreign-operative model represents a qualitative shift in threat. The IS is reportedly counting on the fact that foreign fighters are not only harder to detect but also exhibit higher levels of commitment — making them more likely to execute attacks without hesitation.

What Security Agencies Are Watching

Intelligence agencies are monitoring cross-border movement from all four countries and tracking IS-linked communications. Officials have not disclosed specific timelines or identified imminent plots, but the threat assessment is described as active and evolving. The pattern of two failed attacks — in Tamil Nadu and Mangaluru — linked to the same Sri Lankan handler underscores how a single foreign radicaliser can activate multiple domestic cells, a model the IS appears intent on scaling up across India's borders.