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'India, U.S., Israel must join hands against terrorism'

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

Washington May 10. Being the main targets of terrorism, democratic societies should form a viable alliance against terrorism and "develop multilateral mechanisms'' to counter it. A "core'' consisting of democratic societies should emerge to take on international terrorism in a "holistic and focussed'' fashion, says India's National Security Adviser, Brajesh Mishra.

"Such an alliance would have the political will and moral authority to take bold decisions in extreme cases of terrorist provocation," Mr. Mishra said in remarks at the American Jewish Committee's annual dinner here last night.

The multilateral mechanisms "would not get bogged down in definitional and causal arguments about terrorism," Mr. Mishra said. Preventive measures such as blocking financial dealings, disrupting networks, sharing intelligence and simplifying extradiction procedures could only be effective by international cooperation that was based on trust and shared values, he said.

Reflecting on the theme of the evening which was a collective remembrance of the horrors of terrorism and a celebration of the alliance of free states to combat the scourge, he said, "the U.S., India and Israel have all been the prime targets of terrorism. They have to jointly face the same ugly face of modern day terrorism''.

Mr. Mishra is here to have discussions with top officials of the Bush administration. He has already had a detailed discussion with his opposite number, Condoleezza Rice. At the event last night, he said that it was unfortunate that there were still some "diversionary arguments'' that are preventing a consensus on important anti-terrorist conventions. "An agreed definition of terrorism still eludes the international community. Distinctions sought to be made between freedom fighters and terrorists propagate a bizarre logic which glorifies one set of innocent civilians, while condemning killings of others."

"Another fallacy motivatedly propagated is that terrorism can only be eradicated by addressing its `root causes'. This is nonsense. Terrorist attacks against innocents have no justification. Democratic societies, which address the `root causes' of alienation and anger through pluralism and socio-economic justice, are precisely the targets of terrorism," he said. "A core, consisting of democratic societies, has therefore to gradually emerge from within our existing coalition which can take on international terrorism in a holistic and focussed manner...''

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