India on Wednesday said that countries which support terrorism must be named and shamed, asserting the need for united efforts to combat terror.
Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar while stating this at a security conference in a veiled reference to Pakistan also said that some countries believe that they can buy peace at home by supporting groups for terror outside, which he said, was “delusional”. He did not name any country.
He said India will continue to be in touch with Pakistan with regard to the probe in the terror attack on an Indian Air Force base in Pathankot last month.
“Nations which support terrorism must be named and shamed,” Jaishankar said at the Counter Terrorism Conference 2016.
He called for fostering greater international cooperation to fight terrorism while pointing out that even so-called victims of terror do not cooperate on fighting terror on international stage.
Jaishankar said that governments must show solidarity through a united message condemning terror attacks.
“Since Pathankot attack happened, we have been in touch with Pakistan. We have been in touch at my level and the NSA level because only by remaining in touch, we can expect them to progress on the basis of information which we have provided to them,” he said.
On terrorism in eastern parts of the country, the foreign secretary said the Indian government had discussions with Myanmar on fighting terrorism and there is a greater responsiveness to the concerns of India.
“We had some problems with Myanmar and we have also some discussions with them. Some developments took place in the last few months and possibility of terror attacks occurring in the East from beyond the border would come down,” he said in response to a question related to terror activities in the eastern parts of the country.
Jaishankar underlined the importance of working together to fight terrorism and cited the cooperation with Bangladesh.
“Our history with Bangladesh is a good example and a wonderful story on fighting terrorism. We need to work practically, legally, bilaterally, regionally and globally.
This (terrorism) is such a big challenge,” he said.
Speaking at the session, the foreign secretary said that regime approach to fight terror is essential.
He also said that there is a need for a convention like chemical weapons convention to counter terrorism.
“World now has international conventions prohibiting chemical weapons and restricting nuclear weapons. Why countering terrorism cannot be addressed in a similar way,” he said.
