Need to delink terrorism from religion, says PM Modi in Saudi Arabia

Riyadh: Terming terrorism as the enemy of humanity, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said there was a need to “delink” religion from it and asserted that “segmented and partial” approaches to counter the menace will not be effective. Pressing for united global efforts to deal with the scourge, Modi said there can be no distinction between “good” or “bad” terrorism and that it has “no caste, colour, creed or religion”. Appreciating Saudi Arabia’s leadership role in fighting terrorism in the Middle East, Modi said India was committed to working with Riyadh as well as with its partners in the region to ensure that the world is a better and safer place to live in. The Prime Minister said India has sought to challenge and repudiate the terror narrative that global counter-terrorism efforts are directed against any particular religion or ethnic group. [caption id=“attachment_2710158” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Narendra Modi. File photo. AFP[/caption] “In this context, we deeply appreciate the leadership role being played by Saudi Arabia in the region to fight this menace,” he told leading daily Arab News in an interview during his two-day visit to the Kingdom. Saudi Arabia, a country known as the spiritual home of Islam, recently formed a major coalition of 34 Muslim nations to fight terror, particularly the Islamic State. Saudi Arabia and India have a counter-terror mechanism as well. “To defeat terrorism, all those who believe in humanity have to be united. We need to delink religion from terrorism. Terrorism should be dealt in a comprehensive manner. Segmented and partial approaches have historically proven to be at best suboptimal,” Modi said. “There can be no distinction between ‘good’ or ‘bad’ terrorism,” he said in a veiled reference to Pakistan, a close ally of Saudi Arabia. Modi said both India and Saudi Arabia recognise that no cause can justify an act of terror. He noted that India and Saudi Arabia have come together to cooperate in eradicating the scourge of terrorism. Hailing the role of King Salman bin Abdulaziz in nurturing the Indo-Saudi partnership, Modi said building further on the strategic partnership with the powerful nation was one of the foreign policy priorities of his government. To defeat terror, the Prime Minister said governments across the world should enhance cooperation in intelligence sharing, law enforcement, developing best practices and technologies as well as in extradition arrangements and capacity-building. “India has adopted a comprehensive approach through dealing with its individual elements, including controlling the spread of extremist ideology, plugging financing routes, building a counter narrative to radicalisation through efforts to stem training and recruitment by terrorists,” Modi said.