Pakistan's ISI provides safe haven to terror outfits, says External Affairs Committee report

The Committee on External Affairs noted on Monday that Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) provides safe havens for terrorist groups, and that terrorism in India is funded from across the border. PP Chaudhary, the chairman of the Committee on External Affairs, delivered the 28th report of the committee on Monday, titled “Countering Global Terrorism at Regional and International Levels.” The report underlined the need for an action plan and procedure to eradicate terrorist networks and safe havens in the bordering countries based on their findings. “The Committee has noted that the problem of terrorism in India is largely sponsored from across the border. Terrorist outfits are provided safe havens, material support, finance, and other logistics by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to carry out terrorist activities in India,” the report stated. It further stressed that, according to the committee, the terror attacks in India can only be controlled by dismantling all terrorist networks and safe havens. They recommended that a mechanism be worked out for the effective sharing of resources and pooling of available experts from the central agencies to root out terrorist networks in the neighbouring countries. “The Committee is of the firm view that terrorist attacks in the country can only be curbed by dismantling all terrorist networks and safe havens and has recommended that an action plan or mechanism be worked out at the earliest for effective sharing of resources, capacity enhancement and pooling of available experts from the Central agencies, as well as coordinated global efforts to root out terrorist networks and safe havens in the neighbouring countries,” it stated. The committee further recommended that efforts may also be made at various bilateral, regional, and multilateral forums to work out a joint action plan to curb the use of drones">drones, virtual currencies, and encrypted communications by terrorists. They acknowledged the steps taken by the government in providing a legal framework to keep a check on the use of drones">drones, virtual currencies, and encrypted communications by terrorists. They also “desired that collaborative efforts amongst different ministries and agencies be strengthened and enforcement of existing laws be strictly monitored to ensure their effective implementation.” The Committee also highlighted that negotiations are ongoing with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) for setting up clusters of internet root servers in India. In its report, the committee desired that the negotiations be concluded at the earliest possible time so that internet root servers are based in India to enable immediate response to cyber and malware attacks and contain or check such attacks at the ISP gateways themselves. “In view of the increasing incidents of cyber/malware attacks perpetrated by terrorist organizations, the Committee has stressed the need to be proactive and not merely reactive towards such incidents and has urged the government to evolve a strong mechanism for collaborative efforts amongst the agencies concerned,” the report added. Moreover, it stressed that the capabilities of these agencies to counter cyber and malware attacks in the country may also be enhanced.