Shun double standards in countering terrorism: NSA Ajit Doval at SCO meeting

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 3

National Security Adviser Ajit Doval flagged the continuing threat of cross-border terrorism at a regional meet of NSAs in Kazakhstan even as he met his Russian counterpart Nikolai Patrushev and expressed India’s solidarity with the Russian government and its people in addressing the threat from terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.

‘Counter use of tech by terrorists’

National Security Adviser Ajit Doval emphasised the need to counter the use of modern technology by terrorists such as drones for cross-border transfer of weapons and drugs.

“Perpetrators of terrorism, including those involved in cross-border terrorism, should be effectively and expeditiously dealt with,’’ Doval said on Wednesday in Astana, while calling for shunning double standards in combating the menace.

Speaking against the backdrop of the killing of five Chinese engineers in Pakistan on March 26 and the deadly terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall in Moscow on March 22, Doval said at a security conclave of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) that there was a need to hold accountable the sponsors, financiers and facilitators of terrorism.

He flagged the continued threat posed by various terror groups, including those designated by the UN Security Council such as Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Muhammad, Al-Qaeda and its affiliates and ISIS, in the SCO region.

India is committed to enhancing transit trade and connectivity asserting that such initiatives must be fully respectful of sovereignty and territorial integrity of SCO member states, he said.

Doval emphasised the need to counter the use of modern technology by terrorists such as drones for cross-border transfer of weapons and drugs. India supports the creation of an effective mechanism for cooperation within RATS-SCO for countering terror financing and supports its further strengthening, he said.

Doval also expressed deep concern over the security situation in Afghanistan, including the continued presence of terrorist networks. He said as a neighbour of Afghanistan, India has legitimate security and economic interests in the country. Along with his counterparts from SCO countries, Doval called on Kazakhstan President Qasym-Jomart Toqayev.

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