The Minister of State for External Affairs Shri M. J. Akbar addressed at the ongoing 17th International NSG Seminar here today.

Speaking on the occasion, Shri M. J. Akbar said that terrorism is a biggest threat to prosperity and peace will prevail when terrorism is eliminated. Shri M. J. Akbar said that terrorism challenges the architecture of stability. The objective of terrorism is not about the casualty count/ number of deaths, but to incite fear in pluralistic societies, he added.

Shri M. J. Akbar said that India is strongly committed to fight against terrorism. He said that the nations which support terrorism should be held accountable. He also said that freedom of faith & religion, economic equity and democracy are important to defeat radicalisation and regressive ideas. The Minister said that India is geo-politically at the centre of East and West Asia and the future of Asia will be dependent on what happens in India. He said that India will continue to march forward in peace and stability.

Shri M. J. Akbar said that there should be more such seminars for knowledge sharing and capacity building and he commended NSG for strong deterrent against terrorism and terrorist activities.

DG, NSG, Shri Sudhir Pratap Singh said that NSG is organising seminars on counter terrorism for last 16 years and the participation has increased rapidly.  He said that this seminar is being attended by representatives from 12 countries, 2 UTs and 17 State police force, Army and paramilitary forces. He said that terrorism is cutting across boundaries and there is a need to change the mindset from fighting terrorism to defeat terrorism.

During the day, two sessions were held to discuss the trends and developing threats of terrorism and capacity building & international cooperation.

The MoS for Information and Broadcasting Col. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore inaugurated the Seminar yesterday in Manesar, Haryana. The two-day seminar is organised by National Security Guard (NSG).

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