Voicing concern at terror threats faced by India, the European Union on Tuesday said the 27-nation grouping was constantly analysing the “risk factors” and cooperating with the global community in effectively meeting the challenge of terrorism.
Observing that security could not be achieved in “isolation,” a visiting top official of the European Commission said “radicalisation” and “stress in certain segments of society” were bigger threats faced by the European nations than those posed by terror groups like al-Qaeda which had several franchisees across the world to carry out attacks.
“Security cannot be achieved in isolation. Therefore, we are equally concerned about the terrorist threats that India faces, which in the past few years resulted in a number of attacks, most prominently the 26/11 attacks in 2008 in Mumbai,” Director-General for Home Affairs and Internal Security Stefano Manservisi told journalists during an interaction here. He described India as a “strategic partner” of the EU in carrying forward the fight against terrorism.
Security was a global issue and Europe and India had common interests in sharing experiences, he said. “Prevent terrorism and address radicalisation and recruitment. This is a domain of particular concern for EU and where we must work harder and more closely with a number of actors to prevent new attacks.”
While admitting that Europe was still vulnerable to terrorism and violent extremism, Mr. Manservisi said the EU had been working with international partners like India to disrupt organised international crime networks which took a variety of forms: trafficking in human beings, drugs and firearms, and money laundering.
Mr. Manservisi, who is on a three-day visit, has held meetings with key officials of the Ministries of External Affairs, Home and Indian Overseas Affairs, besides the CBI and other security agencies.
