Terrorism

New York: In the backdrop of frequent terror attacks in India, National Security Adviser M K Narayanan had a meeting with top officials of the US Homeland Security during when some bold proposals were made to tackle the menace. Narayanan, who was part of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's delegation during his visit to the US, had talks with Charles Allen, Under Secretary in the Office of Intelligence in the Homeland Security Department that stretched nearly seven hours.

Official sources said today some ideas emerged which could be borrowed by India though it was felt that some of the proposals could be draconian. Details of the proposals were not known. India can always learn from the US experience though there has been no terror attack in the US after September 11, 2001, the sources said.

India and the US have already constituted a joint working group on counter-terrorism and they are of the view that the international community should come together to combat terrorism in a "long-term" and "comprehensive" manner. The group meets regularly alternately in India and the US. A host of issues that is addressed by the Working Group include regional counter-terrorism efforts, threat assessments in South Asia, Middle East and South East Asia, bio-terrorism, Anti-terrorism Assistance Training Programme and cooperation in the field of forensic epidemiology.

Other issues such as terrorist finance and money laundering, ideological dimensions of terrorism, information sharing and widened cooperation for preventing terrorist acts are also on the agenda of the working group. (PTI)