October 06, 2026 01:54 am (IST)
President inaugurates Counter-Terrorism Conference 2016
Jaipur, Feb 2 (IBNS): President of India Pranab Mukherjee, who inaugurated the Counter-Terrorism Conference-2016 at Jaipur on Tuesday, said that terrorism is undoubtedly the single gravest threat that humanity is facing today.
"Terrorism is a global threat which poses an unprecedented challenge to all nations. No cause can justify terrorist acts. It is imperative that the world acts in unison against terrorism, without political considerations. Therefore, there is a need to take a resolve to not justify terrorist means whatever be the reason or the source," Mukherjee said.
The President said that an important aspect of counter-terrorism strategy is capacity building to prevent attacks through intelligence collection and collation, development of technological capabilities, raising of Special Forces and enactment of special laws.
"Though we have evolved certain mechanisms in this direction, there is scope for further intensifying these efforts," said he.
Mukherjee said that counter terrorism is generally considered to be about tactics, weapons, force levels and intelligence gathering.
"While these things are important the predominant focus has to be on the political management of terrorism. This includes addressing issues of ideology and dealing with countries that sponsor or support terrorism. It is imperative that the world in one voice rejects all manifestations of terrorism, without distinction, and proscribes States that support or sponsor terrorism as an instrument of State policy," said he.
"We cannot also forget the fact that civil society is both the frontier and the battleground which has to be protected and saved. Fragmentation of civil society, rather than its consolidation, is not a wise strategy. The former course leads to radicalization, which thereafter leads to competitive violence. Think tanks and civil society organizations have a larger role to play in this process of social integration," he said.
The President said that our counter-terrorism effort has to be more pointed, more focused, more objective and more professional.
"While doing so there will always be a dilemma of whether we are threatening individual liberties or human rights. We have, therefore, to be judicious in protecting larger freedoms and democratic values," Mukherjee said.
"We need to fight this scourge at all levels- through shaping of public opinion, society building and evolving a concerted and integrated counter- terrorism policy premised on international cooperation in intelligence sharing," said he.
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.
Support objective journalism for a small contribution.
Latest Headlines
Massive fire at Mumbai BEST depot, 10 buses gutted; blasts heard
Mon, Oct 05 2026
Mamata’s ‘fake injury’ claim: Suvendu warns, ‘don’t dig too deep’
Mon, Oct 05 2026
BJP names 8 candidates for UP Rajya Sabha polls; Hardeep Puri, Smriti Irani left out
Mon, Oct 05 2026
India-UAE begin ‘Mountain Guardian 2026’: Troops gear up for high-altitude warfare in Uttarakhand
Mon, Oct 05 2026
'If law wasn't followed, we can undo it': Supreme Court's big warning on SIR process amid Gyanesh Kumar row
Mon, Oct 05 2026
From TMC Rajya Sabha MP to BJP nominee in 6 months: Koel Mallick's stunning political U-turn
Mon, Oct 05 2026
Who is Koel Mallick? BJP nominates former TMC MP to Rajya Sabha
Sun, Oct 04 2026
From drinking partners to murder: Lucknow man electrocutes friend to steal Rs 2,250 from his pocket
Sun, Oct 04 2026
Dubai Crown Prince visits 'hero' pilot Smit Machchhar in hospital
Sun, Oct 04 2026
