India today voiced disappointment over the European Union's "muted response" to the Uri attack, asserting terrorism was the "most significant security threat" to both itself and the EU which deserves greater attention.
Proposing scaled up counter-terror cooperation between India and the 27-nation bloc, Secretary (West) in the MEA Sujata Mehta also emphasised on the need for an "effective and comprehensive" global regime under UN through which the phenomenon of terrorism ---whether state sponsored or through non-state actors-- be dealt with "firmly and effectively".
Noting that India has been a "victim of terrorism from across our border and on account of terrorism being used as an instrument of State policy", Mehta, in her keynote address at a seminar on 'India-EU Cooperation in Security and Global Governance Domains' at Carnegie India, also pitched for early adoption of the draft Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) by the UN General Assembly.
"EU too has called for the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks to be brought to justice, and again, as India does, the EU is in favour of decisive and united action against groups and entities ranging from ISIS, Al-Qaeda and its affiliates and Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Hizb-ul- Mujahideen, and the Haqqani Network.
"Here I would like to express some disappointment at the relatively muted response of the EU to the Uri attack on September 18," she said. As many as 19 soldiers were killed in the Uri attack carried out by Pakistan-based terrorists.
The shared concerns of India and EU on terrorism, including from foreign terrorist fighters and from returning jihadis makes it imperative for us to intensify our cooperation, she said.
She said India was also working to ensure full implementation of UNSC Resolutions 1540, 1373, 1267, 2253 for designating individual terrorists and groups, and strengthening the sanctions regimes against them.
Mehta also said there seem to be some "constraints"
and "there is still a creative tension apparent between the Common Security and Defence Policy (CFSP) of the EU and the foreign policies of individual member states. For this reason the EU is often not perceived as a foreign policy force.
"Consequently, some specific issues like CT (counter- terrorism), intelligence sharing, and defence, are discussed more meaningfully at bilateral levels. While we do have institutional dialogues with the EU on cooperation in counter-terrorism, cyber security, non-proliferation and disarmament, these need to acquire a more operational level character."
Identifying cyber-terrorism as another big threat confronting the global community, she said joint and coordinated efforts can tackle big cyber crime syndicates, through exchange of data on terrorists and extremists.
"Our experts would want to know more about the EU's Radicalisation Awareness Network (RAN) to tap into internet and social media as a counter messaging channel to reach out to vulnerable, disaffected youths," she said.
Indian security agencies could also find common areas for action with EUROPOL to deal with organized crime, cyber hacking threats and cyber espionage, the Secretary added.
On trade ties, Mehta said, the EU as a whole is India's largest trade partner and export destination with total trade touching USD 126 billion in 2015.
With over 30 bilateral dialogue mechanisms in place, our collaboration covers a wide range of important areas, including trade, security, energy, the movement of people, culture, education and so forth, she noted.
"We believe that as part of reorienting itself strategically post Brexit, EU will find more complementarity in India as a partner to work towards a stable multilaterally oriented global governance architecture," she said.
