Terrorism a growing and resistant cancer: FS

Foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Friday said that after the coronavirus pandemic, the next such crisis hitting the globe could be a “computer virus, could be a disinformation campaign that produces civilian unrest or could be a major act of terrorism, even financial terrorism”. He also described terrorism as a “growing and resistant cancer”.

He was delivering a “virtual address” to the National Defence College in the capital on “India’s Foreign Policy Options in the Emerging World Order”. He also said India had so far supplied a total of 446 million HCQ tablets and 1.54 billion Paracetamol tablets to foreign countries.

The foreign secretary said: “We are facing, if I may say so, a ‘Black Swan’ moment. A physical microbe has taken us all by surprise. What it also tells us is that we have no idea where the next such event will be. It could come from cyber space, a computer virus, could be a disinformation campaign that produces civilian unrest or could be a major act of terrorism, even financial terrorism. This is only an indicative list.”

On the global menace of terrorism, the foreign secretary said: “Terrorism, which many of you here have fought, remains a growing and resistant cancer. It continues to destabilise and weaken states and divert resources. Radical ideologies continue to generate violence and insecurity. As a country which has suffered for long from cross-border terrorism, we have been steadfast in seeking action against those who control, support, fund and shelter terrorists. While our efforts to isolate terrorists and their sponsors have led to increased global support, we need to ensure the world follows an undifferentiated and unambiguous approach to terrorism.”