Mumbai Terror Attacks 2008 - Aftermath

Aftermath

The attacks are sometimes referred to in India as "26/11", after the date in 2008 that they began the attacks, and the nomenclature behind the 9/11 attacks in the United States, akin to that of the 3/11 attack in Madrid, Spain, and the 7/7 bombings in London, United Kingdom. The Pradhan Inquiry Commission, appointed by the Maharashtra government, produced a report that was tabled before the legislative assembly over one year after the events. The report said the "war-like" attack was beyond the capacity of any police force, but it also found fault with the Mumbai Police Commissioner Hasan Gafoor's lack of leadership during the crisis.

The Maharashtra government planned to buy 36 speed boats to patrol the coastal areas and several helicopters for the same purpose. It also planned to create an anti-terror force called "Force One" and upgrade all the weapons that Mumbai police currently have. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in an all-party conference declared that the legal framework would be strengthened in the battle against non-state militant groups and such a federal intelligence and investigation agency, like the FBI, will be set up soon to coordinate action against terrorism. The government strengthened anti-terror laws with UAPA 2008, and the federal National Investigation Agency was formed.

The attacks further strained India's slowly recovering relationship with Pakistan. India's then External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee (presently President of India) declared that India may indulge in military strikes against terror camps in Pakistan to protect its territorial integrity. There were also after-effects on the United States's relationships with both countries, the US-led NATO war in Afghanistan, and on the Global War on Terror. FBI chief Robert Mueller praised the "unprecedented cooperation" between American and Indian intelligence agencies over Mumbai terror attack probe. However, Interpol secretary general Ronald Noble said that Indian intelligence agencies did not share any information with them (Interpol).

A new National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) was proposed to be set up by the then Home Minister P. Chidambaram as an office to collect, collate, summarise, integrate, analyse, coordinate and report all information and inputs received from various intelligence agencies, state police departments, and other ministries and their departments.