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New Delhi: Director, Intelligence Bureau, Dineshwar Sharma, has asked the SAARC nations to strictly enforce internationally mandated sanctions against terrorist entities and individuals. In his opening remarks at the second meeting of the High Level Group of Eminent Experts to strengthen the SAARC Anti-Terrorism Mechanism, here on Thursday, Sharma also called upon the eight member states to ratify and enable various Conventions enacted by the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) grouping including the Convention on Suppression of Terrorism and Additional Protocols and the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters.
Mentioning that the two-day meeting is being held at a time when all our countrymen and women are highly agitated over the terror strike at Uri in J&K in which 18 Indian soldiers were killed and an equal number are battling for their lives, Sharma said this incident is only one in a series of such dastardly acts during the last few decades for which planning, financing, training, arming and indoctrination on religious lines owe their origins to sources beyond the borders of India, according to a PIB release.
Stating that terrorism has emerged as a big challenge for the entire world, Sharma said,” No country today is in a position to tackle this problem on its own. Close cooperation and sharing of real-time intelligence are, therefore, imperative for all of us to secure our countries and our peoples.”
Director, IB, identified countering financing of terrorism as one of the most important tools to fight the terror menace. Similarly, Sharma said, cyberspace has become an important area for radicalisation and spread of jihadi materials. Besides, the problem of fake currency feeds into supporting terrorism and can create economic destabilization in our region, he added.
Pointing out that the First Meeting on the SAARC Anti-Terrorism Mechanism in February 2012 had stressed upon the need for immediate operationalization of the newly created SAARC Terrorist Offences Monitoring Desk and SAARC Drug Offences Monitoring Desk at Colombo for creating database which could be used by all members, Sharma said not much progress seems to have taken place on this initiative, according to the PIB release. He also called upon the delegates to take up ‘Terror Financing and Money Laundering’ and ‘Cyber Crime’ as new agenda items.