Thursday, Apr 25, 2024 | Last Update : 04:37 PM IST
IB chief slams Pakistan for Uri terror strike
Without naming Pakistan, the Intelligence Bureau chief Dineshwar Sharma launched a scathing attack on India’s neighbour, saying the Uri incident is only one in a series of terror acts over the last fe
Without naming Pakistan, the Intelligence Bureau chief Dineshwar Sharma launched a scathing attack on India’s neighbour, saying the Uri incident is only one in a series of terror acts over the last few decades that have been planned, financed, trained and armed beyond India’s borders. The IB chief was speaking at a meeting of the Saarc anti-terror mechanism. Since bilateral issues cannot be raised at the Saarc forum, Mr Sharma did not name Pakistan, but made obvious reference to it while speaking on the issue of terrorism.
Mr Sharma also asked the Saarc nations to strictly enforce sanctions against terrorist entities and individuals. He said the whole country was highly agitated over the dastardly terror attack in Uri in which 18 Army soldiers were killed.
This is the second meeting of the high-level group of eminent experts to strengthen the Saarc anti-terrorism mechanism, and was attended by the intelligence chiefs of Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Maldives, besides India. The director general of Pakistan’s Intelligence Bureau, Aftab Sultan, did not attend the meeting.
The senior intelligence official said terrorist outfits were using easily accessible technology to attack both soft and hard targets.
“Self-radicalisation over the Internet and social media, and spread of influence of the Islamic State all over, including in our country, has added new dimensions to the threat,” he added.
While identifying the need to counter terrorism financing as one of the most important aspects of the fight against terror, Mr Sharma also said that cyberspace has become an important area for radicalisation and spread of jihadi materials. The problem of fake currency feeds into supporting terrorism, and can create economic destabilisation in South Asia, he added.
Saying that terrorism emerged as a big challenge for the entire world, Mr Sharma said no country today was in a position to tackle this problem on its own. He stressed on the need for close co-operation and sharing of real-time intelligence.
