On May 15, 2026, Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) held the R N Kao Memorial Lecture-2026, the annual lecture series instituted in the year 2007 to honour the memory of the organisation’s founder Shri Rameshwar Nath Kao.

This year Shri Amit Shah, Hon’ble Union Minister of Home & Cooperation delivered the R.N Kao Memorial Lecture on the subject Narcotics: A Borderless Threat, A Collective Responsibility.

In his address, the Hon’ble Union Home Minister impressed upon the audience that under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, India had set a national goal to achieve a Drug Free India by 2047. He stated that Indian security agencies had prepared a roadmap to eradicate drug-syndicates and are working towards this goal. He categorically affirmed that under India’s policy of ‘Zero Tolerance’ towards drugs, the country would ensure that not one gram of narcotics is allowed to enter the country or leave it using India as a transit route.

Shri Shah highlighted that drug trafficking was not just a law and order subject to be handled by the police or the anti-narcotics agencies, but an issue with a long-lasting impact on society and our future generations; one that demands a comprehensive response.  He stated that while there was awareness about drug money being funnelled to fund terrorists and criminal networks and fuelling a parallel economy, what largely went unnoticed was the permanent damage drug abuse caused to the human body. He cautioned that there was still time for all responsible nations of the world to work together to defeat this threat, adding that if joint efforts were not initiated now, after ten years the world would realise that it was too late to reverse the harm it had caused.

Shri Amit Shah called for a unified global effort on the war on drugs, stressing on the need for a unified legal framework to deal with the issue. He stated that unless there was a high degree of global alignment on what is designated as controlled substances as well as common standard penalties for drug trafficking, drug cartels would continue to take advantage of the inconsistencies in policy, thereby weakening the efforts to fight this threat.

Underlining that the scope for international cooperation on countering narcotics trafficking was crucial, he highlighted the importance of sharing real-time intelligence to interdict narcotics consignments and detain/deport drug kingpins. He informed that in the last two years India was successful in bringing back more than 40 transnational criminals to India, with the support of friendly countries. However, he added that much more was required to be done.

He stated that there is a need for all responsible countries to reach a consensus on the fact that the war on drugs is critical for national security, protecting public health and preventing Narco-States from becoming alternate power centers.

To achieve this goal, the Hon’ble Union Home Minister called for close international coordination. Further, in view of the borderless nature of this threat, he called upon the Ambassadors and diplomats of different countries present in the audience to join India’s efforts in the war against drugs, underscoring the need for serious collaborative efforts in order to achieve a drug free world to preserve the global social fabric.

Shri Shah also said that he world, with a population of 8 billion people, 195 nations, and 250,000 kilometres of international borders, cannot tackle the problem of drugs through fragmented approaches.

In the fight against drugs, collective resolve among nations, along with intelligence sharing, coordinated action, and cross-border operations, will prove crucial.

He added that the battle against drugs must rise above geopolitical differences and individual national interests. The world must simultaneously fight both narco networks and narco-terror states.

In this fight, the world will have to adopt uniform laws for a common definition of prohibited substances, standardized punishments for drug trafficking, extradition of drug kingpins, and intelligence sharing.

Members of Shri R N Kao’s family, former Secretaries of R&AW, Ambassadors/High Commissioners and diplomats from more than 40 countries, apart from officials from the Indian security apparatus, attended the event.

 

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