India Seeks to Name, Shame Terror-Emanating Nations
2016.02.03
The government of a nation whose soil emanates terrorism must be held accountable to probe and explain the deeds of its non-state actors, a senior Indian official said Wednesday during an international counter-terrorism meeting in India.
“To be effective, any regime must enforce two key concepts: assigning responsibility and ensuring accountability,” Indian Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar said while addressing some 250 foreign dignitaries at the Counter-Terrorism Conference 2016 in Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan.
“Naming and shaming must be carried out relentlessly in the case of perpetrators, supporters and connivers of terrorism. Tolerance for double standards on this issue must be equally frankly exposed,” Jaishankar said, without naming any particular country.
The two-day meeting, organized by the India Foundation, a think-tank backed by the country’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), came to a close Wednesday.
Among those attending were Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Malaysian Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Nur Juzlan Mohamed and Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, along with top security officials from India and 25 other countries.
“Now, the very basis of the contemporary international order is that nation states are its basic unit and each government takes responsibility for developments and actions within its territory,” Jaishankar said.
“Indeed, when confronted with situations where that ability no longer exists, we term those polities as failed states and treat them as such. Furthermore, if actions emanating from a national territory impinge negatively on others, the government of that nation is, at the very least, pressed to probe and explain as the first step in a process of accountability,” he said.
In closing remarks, Home Minister Rajnath made direct references to India’s neighbor.
“Most of the terror attacks emanate from Pakistan. It has to show some sincerity and take action against terrorists operating from its soil,” Singh said.
Pathankot attack slowed talks
Foreign secretary-level talks between India and Pakistan were called off last month after an attack on the Pathankot Air Force Station in Punjab on Jan. 2.
India blames Pakistani militant outfit Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) for the attack, which killed seven Indian security officials.
Even as Pakistan claims to have detained several JeM members, including its chief, Azhar Masood, it has asked India for more evidence to prove JeM’s involvement.
Last week, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif admitted that the pending talks between the two arch-rivals, who routinely accuse each other of harboring terrorists and violating ceasefires, were derailed because of the Pathankot attack.
“Our government will stand by Pakistan if it takes decisive action against terrorists and their organizations,” Singh said.
While Pakistani and Indian officials were trying to reach an understanding on Wednesday, a Pakistani cleric praised the Pathankot attack, according to Agence France-Presse.
Hafiz Saeed, the alleged mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attacks and leader of the banned Jamaat-ud-Dawa group, encouraged further violence following the air base assault, AFP reported.
Addressing a rally of about 1,000 people in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, Saeed said: “800,000 Indian troops are committing genocide on Kashmiris. Don’t they have a right to carry out Pathankot-style attacks for their defense?”
No good or bad terrorism
Opening the conference on Tuesday, Indian President Pranab Mukherjee said action was required against states that support and sponsor terrorism as an instrument of policy.
“There is no good or bad terrorism. It is pure and simple evil,” he said.
Afghanistan’s Abdullah called on countries in the region to create a counter-terrorism strategy using each nation’s capabilities to combat the threat.
“Why can’t we regionalize our national counter-terrorism plans? Heart of Asia, SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization), SAARC (South Asian Association Regional Cooperation) can be appropriate mechanisms to tackle this. We should operationalize these mechanisms,” Abdullah said.