Parliamentary panel wants action plan to eliminate terror havens abroad

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New Delhi, February 5

A parliamentary standing committee on Monday called for an action plan or mechanism among central agencies in order to curb terrorist attacks in the country by dismantling all terrorist networks and “safe havens” in neighbouring countries.

Says ISI supporting militant outfits

• The problem of terrorism in India, says the panel, is largely sponsored from Pakistan
• Terror outfits provided havens, material support, finance and other logistics by the ISI, it says
• Suggests effective sharing of resources, capacity enhancement and pooling of available expertise by Indian agencies
• Calls to redouble efforts to ensure de-politicisation of the UNSC sanctions’ regime on the listing of terrorists

The action plan or mechanism, it suggested, should ensure effective sharing of resources, capacity enhancement and pooling of available expertise of the central agencies, said the committee in its report ‘Countering Global Terrorism at Regional and International levels’.

It noted that the problem of terrorism in India was largely sponsored from across the border as terrorist outfits were provided safe havens, material support, finance and other logistics by Pakistan’s spy agency ISI to carry out terrorist activities.

It said the ISI had close links with terrorist outfits like Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) and Indian Mujahideen (IM), and provided them safe havens, material support, finance and other logistics to carry out terrorist activities in India.

The panel also called on the government to redouble its efforts to ensure the de-politicisation of the UN Security Council’s sanctions regime on the listing of terrorists and terror entities. Noting that India remains a recruitment target for global terror groups such as Al-Qaeda and ISIS, the panel underlined the importance of this approach.

The observation was made against the backdrop of China for the past five years frequently blocking the listing of several Pakistan-based terrorists by the UNSC’s sanctions committee. It felt effective implementation of the UNSC’s sanctions regime can be a major tool in countering the activities of terrorists and terrorist groups by restricting their travel and suppressing their funding avenues. In this respect, India should strive for an evidence-based listing and delisting mechanism with greater transparency would be effective in combating terrorism.

The committee said India should play a prominent role in evolving measures in collaboration with the international community to prevent the spread of radicalisation and extremist ideology.