India today said countries that support terrorism must be named and shamed “relentlessly”, asserting that tolerance for double standards on the issue of terror must be “equally frankly exposed”.
Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar while stating this at a security conference here in a veiled reference to Pakistan also said that some countries believe that they can buy peace at home by supporting groups for terror outside, which he said, was “delusional”. He did not name any country.
He said India will continue to be in touch with Pakistan with regard to the probe in the terror attack on an IAF base in Pathankot last month.
“Naming and shaming must be carried out relentlessly in the case of perpetrators, supporters and connivers of terrorism. Tolerance for double standards on this issue must be equally frankly exposed,” Jaishankar said at the Counter Terrorism Conference 2016 here.
The country’s top diplomat said such interim steps can be taken to fight terrorism with the most important of them being to exercise the ability to cause “repetitional damage” even as the world community works to advance the prospects of a Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism.
“The pressure of international public sentiments can make the costs of terrorism escalate well beyond the calculations of its practitioners,” he said.
He said in most cases, it is difficult for non-state actors to operate without support and connivance of states.
“It isn’t difficult in this modern age to trace the roots of a terrorist attack to a particular geography. The standing of those involved in terrorism in any society is not difficult to establish either,” he added.
He called for fostering greater international cooperation to fight terrorism while pointing out that even so-called victims of terror do not cooperate on fighting terror on international stage.
Jaishankar said that governments must show solidarity through a united message condemning terror attacks.
“Since Pathankot attack happened, we have been in touch with Pakistan. We have been in touch at my level and the NSA level because only by remaining in touch, we can expect them to progress on the basis of information which we have provided to them,” he said in reply to a question from the audience.
Jaishankar said encouraging a “whole of the world” approach in countering terrorism is one of the major goals of Indian diplomacy.
He also said that there is a need for a convention like chemical weapons convention to counter terrorism.
“World now has international conventions prohibiting chemical weapons and restricting nuclear weapons. Why countering terrorism cannot be addressed in a similar way?”
On terrorism in eastern parts of the country, the Foreign Secretary said the Indian government had discussions with Myanmar on fighting terrorism and there is a greater responsiveness to the concerns of India.
“We had some problems with Myanmar and we have also some discussions with them. Some developments took place in the last few months and possibility of terror attacks occurring in the East from beyond the border would come down,” he said in response to a question related to terror activities in the eastern parts of the country.