Hindustan Times ST (Mumbai) - Live
At Interpol meet, Shah calls for joint action to tackle terrorism
NEW DELHI: Interpol should consider setting up a “real time information exchange line” between counterterrorism and anti-narcotics agencies of member countries, Union home minister Amit Shah said on Friday, offering India’s help to create a “dedicated centre or convention” for this purpose.
Speaking at the concluding ceremony of Interpol’s 90th General Assembly, which was held in India after 25 years, Shah reiterated the Indian government’s earlier demand to agree on the definitions of terrorism and terrorist and said all countries must come together in the fight.
“Cross-border terrorism can only be fought through acrossborder cooperation and Interpol is the best platform for the same,” Shah said, asserting that terrorism is the biggest violation of human rights.
“First of all, all countries need to have a consensus on the definition of terrorism and terrorist. Without it, we cannot have a global fight. The fight against terror and the narrative of a ‘good terrorist’ and ‘bad terrorist’ or small or big nature of attack cannot go hand-inhand,” he said.
On previous occasions, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has criticised the United Nations for not defining terrorism.
Shah said there must be a consensus on the cross-border propagation of terrorist ideologies through online radicalisation. “We cannot consider this to be a political problem. We must all be committed to ensuring that an effective fight against terrorism should be long-term, comprehensive and sustainable,” he said.
The home minister pointed out that Interpol’s nodal agencies – also known as National Central Bureaus (NCBs) – in some countries and their (member countries) counter
agencies are separate, which, he said, can act as a hurdle in global cooperation.
“In that context, I urge Interpol to consider establishing a real-time information exchange line between the counter-terrorism agencies of 195 member countries. Such a mechanism will strengthen our fight against terrorism in the near future,” he said.
Shah suggested a network between anti-narcotics agencies of all member countries. He also recommended creating a narco-database at the Interpol level. India is committed to providing support to the Interpol to establish a dedicated centre or convention, and to start a dedicated communications network for the world’s counter terrorism and anti-narcotics agencies, he added.
“Interpol should use its experience and achievements of last 100 years and prepare a future plan for the next five years to tackle issues of crossborder terrorism, narcotics smuggling, online radicalisation, money laundering and organised crimes,” he said.
Shah said Interpol can also set up a study group to carry out detailed research on challenges which law enforcement agencies are likely to face in the next 25 to 50 years, and solutions to deal with them.
“It can also produce reports called World Policing 2048 and World Policing 2073, which can be very beneficial for law enforcement agencies of all countries,” Shah said, adding that reviewing this work every five-year will also prove to be relevant.