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Indian PM tells armed forces to upgrade terror fighting capabilities

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

New Delhi, Oct 18, IRNA
India-PM-Armed Forces
Terming terrorism as principal challenge to national security, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday told armed forces to upgrade its terrorism fighting capabilities as well as step up surveillance and interdiction system.

Maintaining that the threat of terrorism was international, he said India would have to re-orient its strategic thought to combat the scourge by re-working its relations with major powers as well as in the country's immediate neighborhood.

"Terrorists are becoming increasingly sophisticated in the way they deal with death and destruction. Thus, there is a need to upgrade our capabilities, which have traditionally been geared to conventional threats".

Calling for developing a national security strategy, the prime minister said the policy to deal with terrorist threats, could not be restricted only to perpetrators of terrorist acts, but should also seek to modify the behavior of states where terrorists find safe haven, sanctuary and material sustenance.

Mentioning Pakistan in this regard, the prime minister said New Delhi had put Islamabad 'on notice' that any democratic Government in India would find it difficult to continue on its present path of addressing all outstanding issue unless the Government of Pakistan clearly deals with the issue of terrorism.

"The India-Pakistan Anti-Terrorism Institutional Mechanism will be a test of Pakistani intentions and capabilities to implement the assurance they have given us since January 2004," the prime minister said.

"We live in a dangerous and unstable neighborhood," he said adding the spread of science had led to emergence of weapons of mass destruction -- most recently seen manifested in North Korea.

This trend, Singh said, was changing the regional balance of power and threatening trans regional consequences.

"The transformed security challenges now include anarchistic ideologies, communalism of various kinds, threat from pandemics and terrorist over and above conventional threats," he said.

He said internationally India had taken a firm stand that fight against terrorism has to be long-term, sustained and comprehensive.

"It cannot be ad-hoc, selective or compartmentalized in terms of region, religion or organizations."
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