By Manish Chand,IANS,
On Board PM’s Special Aircraft : With terrorists striking Indian cities at random and with impunity, National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan spent most of his time in the US getting tips from top counter-terrorism officials who have ensured a country free of terror since the 9/11 attacks.
Narayanan, who joined Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New York Tuesday, found time to brainstorm with top officials US intelligence agencies and the department of home security on a viable counter-terrorism strategy that can work in India.
He held exhaustive discussions with the chief of the Department of Homeland Security and federal intelligence agencies to learn from the US experience in combating terrorism.
“The fact is that they (Americans) have not had any major incident since 9/11. We are keen to learn from their experience,” a government source said.
He brainstormed with them for some seven-and-a-half hours spread over three days to get an insight into the US’ counter-terror strategy.
However, New Delhi is not sure whether they can copy some of the strong measures introduced by the US to counter terror, the source added, indicating that India will have to devise its own counter-terrorism strategy to deal with frequent terrorist attacks targeting its major cities and symbols of modern India.
It is not yet clear whether India’s counter-terrorism strategy will include a more stringent anti-terror law.
Speaking to reporters, Manmohan Singh underlined the need for “further tightening of intelligence gathering and strengthening of investigation and prosecution processes to deal with terror incidents”.
“But we can’t give up the war against terror. We will fight with all the resoluteness that is necessary to deal with this menace,” the prime minister stressed.
His comments came after a low-intensity bomb went off in a crowded market in Mehrauli in south Delhi, killing two people and injuring 17 Saturday afternoon.