India-EU Common Strategy Essential to Counter Terrorism

January 11, 2012

New Delhi, January 11 2012: Ambassador Mara Marinaki, Managing Director of the European Union’s (EU) Global and Multilateral Issues on Wednesday emphasised upon the need to develop a common strategy by India and the European Union to counter terrorism, that she referred to as a ‘common enemy’. Ms Marinaki was addressing the Seminar on Counter Terrorism, organised by The Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), along with the Ministry of External Affairs and The European Union, Brussels.

Ms Marinaki briefed the gathering on the overall approach of the EU to counterterrorism, as well as the changes that have been effected in EU’s external and internal counterterrorism strategy since the Lisbon Treaty (2009). She hoped that India would play a more proactive role in the global strategic affairs and stand by the EU in all its endeavours.

Earlier, inaugurating the seminar, Dr Arvind Gupta, Director General, IDSA highlighted the four features of India’s counterterrorism strategy, namely, its evolution to suit the nature of the challenge, containment of external support to terrorism, its strong commitment to upholding democratic principles and cooperating with the international community on counterterrorism. Dr Gupta also threw light on future challenges that India would have to contend with, such as cyber crime and cyber terrorism, maritime piracy and terrorism, modernisation of police, judicial and financial systems and evolving systems for accurate assessment of threats.

Also speaking on the occasion was Dr G.K. Pillai, Distinguished Fellow, IDSA, who underlined the importance of India and the European Union appreciating each others concerns and perspectives on terrorism. He said that India-EU cooperation on counterterrorism is in its infancy, and there is need for strategic interactions and sharing of best practices.

A case study on Jammu and Kashmir was also presented. The seminar emphasised upon Counter Terrorism ‘architecture’ by both sides and held thematic discussions on how Jihadi groups have evolved in India and their modus operandi worldwide.

The seminar was a step forward to the India-EU joint declaration on International terrorism, signed in Brussels on December 2010. The declaration acknowledged that International Terrorism is one of the most serious threats to international peace and security. It underlined that cooperation in combating cross border terrorism is one of the key priorities in the India-EU strategic partnership.