On the 14th anniversary of the ghastly terror attack in Mumbai that killed around 165 people, a national security conference on Saturday discussed non-traditional threats to the country in the form of cyber war and cyber espionage.
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Retired Indian Police Service (IPS) officer and former member of the National Security Advisory (NSA) Board, D. Sivanandan, addressing the event, explained how the well-coordinated terror attack took place on November 26, 2008 at 12 different locations in the commercial capital.
He stressed that the future threat was from cyber war and cyber espionage, and emphasised on the need to have a memorial for all the terror blasts that have taken place in Mumbai since March 1993.
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Shiv Murari Sahai, an IPS officer, currently an additional secretary of National Security Council Secretariat, spoke about the different trends in terrorism today.
“The real reason the Mumbai terror attack took place was because the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) was facing an internal crisis and many of their cadre were fleeing to Afghanistan for ‘the fight of greater Jihad’. It is in this context that the LeT leadership decided that they have to have a spectacular action in India to ensure that LeT remains intact,” he said.
The key to that was David Headley, a Pakistani-American terrorist, who was recruited to carry out recce in India and identified various targets in Mumbai. He deposed before a special National Investigation Agency court in March 2016.
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Mr. Sahai also explained the different trends and manifestation of terrorism today. “We have started looking inwards, as emphasis on social factors is much more and the issue of re-radicalisation beyond religion,” he said.
Rakesh Asthana, former special director, Central Bureau of Investigation, and police commissioner of Delhi police, talked about the non-traditional threats.
BJP MLA Ashish Shelar and Israel Ambassador to Thailand, Orna Sagiv were also present at the event.