New Delhi. 25 February, 2016. The COAS in his address stated that India has been dealing with various dynamic sub conventional threats since independence and has been successful in containing this menace to a large extent.  He added that the Indian Army has a rich experience in countering sub conventional threats of varied forms like proxy war, terrorism, and insurgency.  He brought out that terrorism affected countries need to find indigenous solutions to address the menace.

He highlighted that the terrorist attacks on ‘9/11’, ‘26/11’ and at Paris have changed the perception of world leaders about the unprecedented reach and methods used by terrorists to strike at will at the global stage. He stated that these sub conventional threats have created a force asymmetry and that traditional, conventional mechanisms cannot contain this menace.

Terrorist organizations like ISIS, Al Shabab and Boko Haram have found new space at the Global front through social Media and other forms of Media. In the context of India, groups like LeT are getting candid support from across Western Borders in manifesting violence. The worrying aspect is that these groups no longer can be dismissed as regional threats.

As long as it gives publicity to their ideology and demonstrates their growing emphasis, these groups take advantage of internationally connected systems like communication and transit to retain flexibility of reach in any parts of the globe.
There is a necessity for international community to fight this growing menace as one by sharing of intelligence & adopting common training techniques.  It remains uneven today & weakens constrictive global response.  It needs to change & should adopt common understanding.

As long as certain states continue to differentiate between good, bad and tolerable terrorists, the way ahead remains elusive.   There should be a resolve at international level to isolate states who harbour & train terrorists as a matter of state policy from those who fight terrorists with sincerity & genuine intent.  Trans- national cooperation is a necessity.

We need to evolve methods to contain terrorists.  Nature of ideology of modern terrorist organizations are  significantly different from that of the past. Main threat is of fundamental ideology of terrorists where they perceive it as a divine,  making them very dangerous.
In Indian context fight  against terror in spite of support from neighbours is characterized by people friendly approach and population remains the centre of gravity. A well calibrated surgical counter terrorism operations with non – use of heavy caliber weapons have ensured minimum collateral damage.  The declining trend of violence in the affected areas is a testimony to the efficacy of response of the Indian Army.

Increasing inter dependence across the world today demands economic engagement with common goal.