[Diplomacy] Al-Qaeda Threat to India, US Report on India’s Counter-terrorism measures, Border security Management

1. D1: US report on Indian Counter Terrorism measures
2. D2: Al-Qaeda threat to India: should we worry?
3. D3: Border security Management: Gujarat
4. D4: Letting states have foreign relations

D1: US report on Indian Counter Terrorism measures

Who prepared this report?

• National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START).
• Provides an overview of Fodder points for General Studies Mains paper 3: internal security, border Management.

(-ve) Negative points

1. 2013: ~400 people died in terror attacks in India. Out of them ~200 from Maoist attacks. Numbers higher than 2012 = meaning India is still a soft target.
2. Did not pass any anti-terror law in 2013, despite point #1.
3. Still relies on old laws viz. Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (1967), the SAARC Convention on Suppression of Terrorism Act (1993) etc.
4. After 26/11, planned to setup a National Counterterrorism Centre, but states opposed hence postponed.
5. India continuously building fences on Pak & Bangla borders but still illegal migration continues through rural areas.
6. Terrorists backed by Pakistan still a problem in J&K. Pak itself violated line of control many times. Pak yet to bring 26/11 perpetrators to justice.
7. Drug smuggling through Punjab border, this money used for terror financing.
8. Indo-Nepal border & Maritime borders still porous.
9. US official complaint that despite sharing intelligence, Indian agencies donot take followup action quickly. Especially in terror-finance cases.
10. Govt. does not have procedures to freeze assets of terrorist suspects immediately.
11. Poor Inter-agency coordination at various level in center and state
12. Whistle blower protection inadequate in the intelligence agencies / counter-terror finance operations.
13. Lack of comprehensive policy against extremists in NE or Naxals in Red corridor.
14. Social media is used for creating communal unrest (e.g. Muzaffarnagar riots after facebook clips).

(+ve) Positive Points

1. Setup a Multi-Agency Centre for enhancing intelligence gathering and sharing.
2. Plan for National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID). It’ll link intelligence related databases in different ministries and departments.
3. Participated in US India Homeland security dialogue in Washington. Regular exchange of officials and training.
4. Signed treaty with USA for “Information exchange for aviation security”
5. Member of FATF (Financial Action Task Force) on Money Laundering. Also part of similar grouping in Eurasia and Asia.
6. Passed Prevention of Money Laundering Act on 2012
7. Criminalized terror-financing according to International standards.
8. Ordered Jholachhap NGOs to report source of their foreign donations.
9. Founding member of Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF)
10. Obtained cooperation from Nepal, Bangladesh to arrest terrorists.
11. High profile arrests: Abdul Karim Tunda and Yasin Bhatkal. Paresh Barua got death sentence in Bangladesh (although escaped to Myanmar.)
12. Various developmental schemes in the Naxal -affected areas.
13. Surrender cum-Rehabilitation schemes for naxals and extremists.
14. Schemes for modernizing education + infrastructure in Madrassas. This will help countering jihadi elements.

D2: Al-Qaeda threat to India: should we worry?

In Sep 2014, Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, released a video with the concept of “Ghazwa-e-Hind” i.e. final battle to conquer India by a jihadi army.

Why India should not worry?

1. Nothing novel about such declaration. As Pakistan-based jihadists have been talking about “Ghazwa-e-Hind” long before al-Qaeda showed up.
2. 80 Indians have reportedly joined jihadists in Syria and Iraq, but the figure is smaller than that for  Australia, Britain and France.
3. Al-Qaeda’s own splinter group IS has eclipsed Al-Qaeda. IS now controls parts of Syria and Iraq.
4. Hence, Al-Zawahiri’s first public message in two years, appears to be a desperate gamble, to keep the morale of its troops. (like a regional politician who wants to stay in news by creating some controversy.)
5. As Modi pointed out in the interview, India Muslims are patriotic and will not join such terror-organizations.

Why India should worry?

1. Al-Qaeda is an organized, intelligent, and patient group.

1. AL-Qaeda’s weakening image in the world may trigger it to attack massively to prove its strength
2. Competitive dynamics between terrorist groups can be dangerous.
3. U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan between 2008 and 2010, decimated al-Qaeda’s largely Arab leadership and elevated Pakistanis into senior positions. Resulting ng into “Pakistanization” of Al-Qaeda. These Paki leaders in Al-Qaeda have their agendas for Kashmir.
4. Recent video – in Urdu (replacing Arabic) – to gain foothold in Indian subcontinent.
5. Al-Qaeda views India as a ripe opportunity — both as a recruitment source and a target.
6. India has a large, marginalised Muslim population, and incidents of communal violence in recent times.
7. India has porous borders with weak states-(Pakistan, Nepal, Myanmar, Bangladesh et al) who have sheltered terrorists in past.
8. India becoming a major partner of the United States. Al-Qaeda doesn’t like it. Not one bit.
9. India’s police and counterterrorism institutions don’t have sufficient man and material resources.
10. Among SAARC nations, intelligence sharing is insufficient.

D3: Border security Management: Gujarat

Topic in news Sep-2014: Following reforms taken: (aka fodder for GS3)

1. Men from Puggie community are expert in reading camel footprints. They belong to Kutch and Banaskantha districts of Gujarat.
2. They’ve been recruited to trace the movement of smugglers, terrorists and refugees across western border through desert.
3. Police has enrolled more “friends of police” in border villages- to act as informants.
4. For coastal security –  the security forces are keeping surveillance on fisher-communities including Hindus- because some of them were caught by Pakis, brainwashed and then released back to India- they supply sensitive information to Pakis in lure of money.
5. Stringent identity verification of fishermen and those returning from Dubai and Karanchi via sea route.
6. Intelligence agencies keep a tab on terror website, online groups, people returning from specific countries and dollar transactions. Because dollar transactions give footprints of any terror activity.

D4: Letting states have foreign relations

Topic in news Sep-2014:

1. After LPG reforms the CMs of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka actively sought out FDI from MNCs. As as result, Hyderabad and Banglore have developed as IT hubs.
2. On similar lines, the then Chief Minister Modi began hosting Vibrant Gujarat summits to attract investment in his state.
3. Therefore, all state Government should actively seekout FDI and establish direct-relations with foreign Governments- many American states do the same- they setup standalone offices in foreign nations to boost trade-tourism to their home state.
4. Since 80s- Even the authoritarian Chinese leadership has permitted their provinces to establish sub-regional links with other Asian countries. As a result, Yunan is thriving as a trade hub.

Challenges?

1. Border states- what if Pakistan wanted to invest in Punjab or China in Arunanchal or Bangladesh in W.Bengal? Even if they wanted purely economic relations, the security aspects will overshadow and the Union Government may not allow the deals.
2. While Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and other big states can afford to host investors’ summits, the interior and backward states can’t host such lavish events -given the lack of event managers, rail-road-air connectivity, media publicity etc. Union Government needs to help them.

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