The Union Minister – Anurag Thakur noted that the policy focus of central government is ‘Zero Tolerance Against Terrorism’ on Monday.
Addressing the mediapersons on unwavering efforts of the administration to counter terrorism, the Union Minister asserted that the government has also worked on the legal front by strengthening Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
The Union Minister added that PM Modi during international conferences and meetings has always pressed the world to unite against terror.
Besides, the 90th Interpol General Assembly witnessed a participation of over 2000 foreign delegates and culminated in the announcement of ‘Global Action Against Act of Terrorism’, he added.
“The Governments resolve against terror has been displayed time and again from Surgical Strike to Balakot Strike. The action by our armed forces has caused a significant drop in terrorist incidents in Jammu and Kashmir. Similarly, we have achieved a 94% conviction rate in terror financing cases,” Thakur stated.
Highlighting that India has raised its concerns at the highest global levels, the Union Minister deliberated on the efforts of the government toward creating an atmosphere of peace in northeast.
He claimed that an era of peace has dawned in northeastern region, since 2014 when insurgency violence has registered a sharp decline of 80% and civilian deaths have been declined to 89%.
“This is the achievement of surrender by six thousand militants since 2014,” he underlined.
“The BJP-led government is committed to go beyond armed action to counter terrorism and has worked to create an atmosphere of lasting peace across the region. These peace treatises are a legacy of the achievements of the Government,” he mentioned.
Underlining the concerned aspect, Thakur listed the peace agreements signed by the Government: Bodo Accord in January 2020; Bru-Reang Agreement in January 2020; NLFT-Tripura Agreement in August 2019; Karbi Anglong Agreement Sept 2021; Assam-Meghalaya Inter State Boundary Agreement in March 2022.
The Minister asserted that the centre rolled back the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from a large part of North East, including the whole of Tripura and Meghalaya.
It remains in force across 3 districts of Arunachal Pradesh, 60% of Assam is free of AFSPA, 15 police stations under 6 districts have been taken out of the category of Disturbed Area. Meanwhile, the Disturbed Area notification has been removed from 15 police stations in 7 districts; informed the Minister.
Thakur delved into the rescue operations run by the centre over the years. He also listed the accomplishments, including – nearly 22,500 citizens were rescued under Operation Ganga in February-March 2022; 670 Indian citizens were rescued from Afghanistan in Operation Devi Shakti; In one of the biggest successes of rescue operations, 1.83 crore citizens were brought back home during COVID-19 crisis, under ‘Vande Bharat Mission’ during 2021-22; India rescued 654 people from Wuhan in China.
India has also offered a helping hand to foreign citizens under distress. In 2016, under ‘Operation Sankat Mochan’, 155 people including 2 Nepal nationals were brought back from South Sudan.
Altogether, 5000 Indians were rescued from Nepal during ‘Operation Maitree’, while 170 foreign nationals were rescued from Nepal. Under the ‘Operation Rahat’, 6,710 people were rescued from Yemen including 1,962 foreigners.
Speaking on the status, he said that “India is increasingly being seen as a country that readily offers assistance to other countries in their times of crisis which acts strongly against terrorism, while a neighboring country is only seen as one sheltering terrorism and propounding values of violence.”
