Terrorism Top Global Threat: Sushma Swaraj At RIC Summit in China
By Ashok Dixit (Editor, Foreign Affairs, IOP)
New Delhi, Feb 28, 2019: A day after India launched its second surgical strike on Pakistan soil in response to the February 14 terror attack in Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj used the platform of the 16th Russia-India-China (RIC) Foreign Ministers meeting at Wuzhen, China, to reiterate New Delhi’s oft-repeated stance that terrorism remains the top threat globally.
Delivering her opening remarks at the summit-level meeting, Swaraj said, “Terrorism tops the list of the existential threats that the world faces today. You are aware of the recent heinous terrorist attack on our security forces in Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir.”
Swaraj named the Pakistan-based and supported terrorist organization Jaish-e-Mohammed as the perpetrator of the dastardly act, and questioned the international community for not raising its objections to the higher pitch and taking appropriate counter-action against proscribed groups like the JeM and the LeT.
She said that the “loss of more than 40 personnel from our Central Reserve Police Force” and injuries to several others “are a grim reminder for the need for all the countries to show zero tolerance to terrorism and take decisive action against it.”