Bharat SainiLast Updated on May 5, 2017 by Bharat Saini
Inaugurating the 19th Asian Security Conference (ASC), India’s Defence Minister, Manohar Parrikar stated on March 6, 2017; that terrorism remains the most pervasive and serious challenge to global security and while threat of terror is transnational but the response to this threat is generally local and uncoordinated, largely due to conflicting definitions of terrorism and geopolitical constraints, which have stymied a global response. He added that successful combat against terrorism requires a holistic approach and elaborated that tackling of terror finance and countering the misuse of the internet through social media by terrorist entities are important steps in this process. He exhorted Asian countries for collective action against terror.
ASC organized annually by Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), New Delhi, since 1999; has emerged as an important platform for debating issues relating to Asian Security and has been providing a forum for security analysts, practitioners and policy makers from around the world to share their views on the challenges facing the Asian continent.
The 19th ASC is being held on the topic “Combating Terrorism: Evolving an Asian Response”, and the conceptual background is resurgence of violent extremist movements that have evolved in sophistication with the advances in technology, communication, and the complicated web of terror finance. While the challenges confronting Asia and the global order have multiplied, a cohesive response to them has remained elusive. With countries in the region constructing frameworks of cooperation to combat terrorism, it is time to exchange ideas on countering violent extremism, which will define an Asian approach to this issue. A global regime built on a strong foundation of effective regional practices is bound to find wider acceptability. The conference was expected to explore these subjects through the course of the following interactive sessions:
- Norms & The Global War on Terror : Challenges for Asia
- New Wave of Global Terror : Ideas, Resources and Trends
- The Age of ‘Instant Terror’: Technology, the Game Changer
- Regional Perspectives – The West Asia Conundrum : Unraveling geopolitics & global response
- Regional Perspectives – South and South East Asia : The Growing Spectre of Terror
- Constructing effective counter-narratives: The need for a global response
- The Asian Response to Combating Terror : The Way Forward
In his keynote address, National Security Advisor of Afghanistan, Mhd. Hanif Atmar, called for the need for strong counter-terrorism strategy, with proposed actions at Global, Islamic World, Regional and National levels; and described Security and Counter Terrorism as the ‘most defining challenge of our times’. He called for long-term planning with the objective to end State sponsorship of terrorism by initiating coordinated political, strategic and military responses to destroy the flourishing sanctuaries for terrorist groups. He added that Afghanistan is confronted with a terrorist war, and an undeclared State to State war. He also dispelled the perception of terrorism being associated with Islam as unethical and unhelpful, insisting that the Muslim nations have lost more lives to extremism and terrorism than other nations and added that the Muslim nations are natural allies in the war against terrorism. Blaming Pakistan for exporting terror, Afghanistan said some nations must be designated as ‘terrorist states’ failing which at least ‘individuals’ must be designated as ‘terrorists’ to combat terror more effectively.
During the conference Pakistan’s former National Security Advisor, Mahmud Ali Durrani admitted that the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack that claimed 166 lives in 2008, were carried out by terror groups based in Pakistan and said Pakistani terrorist Hafiz Saeed, accused of carrying out the deadly strikes, should be severely punished. But he has at the same time denied any role of government of Pakistan or the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in that attack.
India’s Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar reiterated that though there is a broad consensus on what constitutes an act of terror, a formal agreement is missing and expected that Asian initiative will put greater pressure on the rest of world. Parrikar said that India had submitted a proposal for Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) at the United Nations General Assembly in 1996 and ‘twenty years later we continue to push and put our weight behind this aspect to shut down terror camps, ban all terror groups, and make cross border terror an extraditable offence’ and once again called for early adoption of India-backed CCIT by the UN.
