NCTC is the need of hour, says Tripathi

Updated At : 08:52 AM Dec 03, 2014 IST

Sanjeev Tripathi

Sanjeev Tripathi, chief of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) from December 2010 to December 2012, said escalating war with Pakistan was not in India's interest and with China, there was a need to demarcate the ground position of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) - the de facto 3,488-km boundary running east to west along the Himalayan ridgeline.

Speaking on "Threats from traditional and non-traditional sources", Tripathi, who joined the BJP in February, said Pakistan has avoided open aggression and opted to have a covert route by aiding and abetting terror and anti-India groups. All incidents of firing along the International Border and the Line of Control, he opined, should be effectively responded to, though kept localised and within manageable limits.

"We need to expose Pakistan's nexus, but responding through overt action is not the answer. Any escalation of war is not in our larger interest," Tripathi said, adding that the possibility of engagement with Pakistan should always be explored.

On China, Tripathi said: "The boundary dispute is a complex issue and will take a long time to resolve. The two countries need to define the LAC." Instances of Chinese incursions, he felt, should not be played up except when there is a change in status of the held positions. "Our own focus should be to enhance our military capability and accelerate infrastructural development."

Tripathi was heading RAW when the then Union Home Minister P Chidambaram proposed the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), an over-arching pan-India body to tackle terrorism. Several objections from Chief Ministers, including Modi, held back its creation. At the Tribune Roundtable, Tripathi made it clear that "an early creation of the NCTC is the need of the hour". There is a need for a separate organisation to collate and analyse inputs from various sources, he said.

"We have many fault lines and need to work to minimise these. It's a daunting task, but we have no other option," he concluded.

NCTC is the need of hour, says Tripathi

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