India, Bangla discuss terror, ISIS

Home secretaries agree a joint mechanism needed to deal with the outfit

India has impressed upon Bangladesh to evolve a joint mechanism to specifically deal with increasing threat from the terror outfit Islamic State (ISIS) to the two countries.

The issue was discussed extensively during the two-day home secretarylevel talks, which started on Monday.

Sources said Union home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Mozammel Haque Khan expressed considerable concern over the growing influence of ISIS in not just India and Bangladesh but the entire region.

Intelligence reports suggest that Bangladesh was more vulnerable to ISIS influence due to presence of strong radical groups on its soil while the terror outfit was using the social media to radicalise Indian youth.

It is suspected that the July 1 terror attack at an upmarket café in Dhaka had been engineered by ISIS with assistance from some local groups.

Sources claimed that Bangladesh too was “favourably inclined” to the idea and modalities for the same are likely to be finalised soon

“There is concern that if ISIS manages to get a strong foothold in India’s neighbourhood, then it is bound to impact our internal security situation also. So both India and Bangladesh need to work jointly on this issue,” a senior security official said.

Though other security related issues were also discussed during the meeting but activities of ISIS remained the main focus with India keen that both sides should evolve a joint mechanism to deal with the increasing threat.

Sources claimed that Bangladesh too was “favourably inclined” to the idea and modalities for the same are likely to be finalised shortly even as there was broad consensus to evolve and strengthen anti-terror mechanism with special focus on ISIS.

Both sides also exchanged notes about developments and investigations following the July 1 terror attack at the Dhaka café.

Among other issues discussed during the meeting was the menace of smuggling of cattle, narcotics and arms through the porous Indo-Bangladesh border and agreed to work together to check them. Officials from both sides claimed the talks were held in “cordial atmosphere”.