National Security Adviser Ajit Doval addressed a top police officers conference on Monday and said that the National Investigation Agency probe into funding of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir has put the pressure at the right places on foreign agencies that are sponsoring terror in the valley.
In his address he emphasised on a comprehensive approach to counter terrorism, laid special emphasis on curbing terror funding and also stressed that this would only be possible due to meticulous investigation and referred to the NIA crackdown against terror funding in Kashmir and the global anti-terror financing group, Financial Action Task Force (FATF)’s action against Pakistan as two examples during his speech at Monday’s conference.
“NIA has been able to make tremendous contribution in its terror funding probe in Jammu and Kashmir. This action put the pressure at the right place in foreign agencies which were running this”, he said and also added that this is through collecting proper evidence and information.
He also spoke highly about the anti-terrorist squads in various states as “soldiers against terrorism” and said that FATF’s action has put a lot of pressure on Pakistan.
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He connected with the officers present in the room and said, “you (officers present in this room) are not just investigators but soldiers against terrorism. Your task is not confined to just probe. You are the total combatants in fight against terrorism. Only intelligence agencies won’t do it alone. Investigators’ aim is much beyond their FIR or charge sheet.,”
He also spoke about Pakistan’s hand in backing terror and said, “nobody can afford the war today, because it is cost ineffective. So, instrument of covert action – terrorism – is a low-cost sustainable option which bleeds the enemy.”
But state-sponsored terrorism, he explained, is much more than giving finances and arms to the terrorists. “In our case, Pakistan has mastered the art of supporting terror,” he said.
He outlined the future way forward for the anti-terror teams and said that, “we fight terrorism by taking away their weapons, cutting their financing and degrading their capabilities.”
“Come out with specific guidelines what you need, how you bring greater convergence in fight against terrorism” he told officers at the event. Doval also told asked them work as a team, adding that he would have ideally liked a single anti-terror body but since this hadn’t been possible, ATS officers had to play a lead role in the states.