ABOUT THE BOOK

Terrorism and violent extremism are the results of cri5tical and complex socio-political disorders. While counter-radiacalisation work is vital in minimizing the threat of extremism, the struggle is ultimately ideological. Today, terrorist groups and non-state actors are continually evolving their modes of operation and devising increasingly complex ways to carry out their heinous acts with deadlier consequences. The use of technology, information and social media as well as the nexus between terrorist networks, non-state actors and transnational criminals pose newer challenges to the state operatives and the traditional approaches to terrorism.

The need for coordinated action by all the countries of the world to fight the menace of terrorism and to eliminate this scourge, is hence an imperative for world peace. While the counter-terrorism agenda requires evolution through continued dialogue, it must be strengthened through globally and regionally coordinated approaches, capacity development and sharing of best practices. That however, is easier said than done.

The second edition of the Counter Terrorism Conference, organized by the Government of Rajasthan and the India Foundation, brought together a galaxy of political and thought leaders from across the world, including field operatives, senior officials from security agencies, policymakers, scholars and government leaders involved in counter-terrorism operations and in planning and sensitization, to discuss ways of tackling global terror outfits. This book is a compendium of the proceedings which took place in that conference and includes the views of illustrious personalities. These include amongst others, the President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee, India’s Home Ministers, Shri Rajnath Singh, the Chief Executive of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, the Deputy Home Minister of Malaysia, Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed, the State Minister, Ministry of External Affairs, from Bangladesh, Md. Shariar Alam, the Iranian Deputy Minister for Asia and Pacific Affairs, Mr. Ibrahim Rahimpour and a host of top government officials and thought leaders from across the world.

Can the world unite to fight the menace of terrorism? Is this a battle which can be won? The views by eminent personalities delve into these issues and bring forth clarity on what can and should be done, in order to fight the scourge.

ABOUT Author

Maj Gen Dhruv C. Katoch, SM, VSM is an alumnis of Sherwood College, Nainital, the National Defence Academy, Khadakvasla and the National Defence College, New Delhi. He was commissioned in the DOGRA Regiment on March 31, 1972. A third-generation army officer, he has a Masters Degree and an Mphil in Defence Studies from Madras University. He is also a recipient of Doctor of Philosophy, Honoris Causa, conferred by the Indira Gandhi University, Rewari. Post-retirement in January 2009, he joined the Indian Army’s premier think tank, Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS) and subsequently headed that organization as its Director till November 2014. While at CLAWS, he headed a group which produced a comprehensive report on “Left Wing Extremism: An Internal Security Challenge and Response Strategy for Security Force 2015” and another report on “Perception Management in the Indian Army”. He contributes articles regularly to defence journals, newspapers and magazines and speaks on these issues in military establishments, universities and in television discussions. He has also edited/coedited six books including books on the 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pak Wars. Presently, he is the editor of SALUTE Magazine and the Secretary General of the Indian War Veterans Association (IWVA).

Shakti Sinha is the Director of the Nehru Memorial Museum & Library, New Delhi (http://nehrumemorial.nic.in/en/). He is also a Distinguished Fellow at the Institute of National Security Studies Sri Lanka(INSSSL), Colombo. He has a master’s in public policy from George Mason University, and a master in Indian and Chinese history from Delhi University. He was a member of India’s higher civil service- the Indian Administrative Service- from 1979 to 2013. He has held positions at different levels at the federal, provincial and local levels, including as private secretary/ joint secretary to prime minister (Vajpayee), head of Delhi’s power utility, finance secretary in Delhi provincial government, chief secretary of the Andaman government and others. Internationally, he headed the United Nation’s government & development team in Afghanistan (2006-09) coordinating donor support to the Afghan government, and was earlier Senior Advisor to India’s Executive Director on the World Bank board (2000-2004).

Mr. Sinha has worked at think tanks in India (Director, India Foundation; Visiting Senior Fellow, Observer Research Foundation) and Singapore (Research Fellow, Institute of South Asian Studies) and written many book chapters, working papers, policy briefs, columns etc. on political economy of India, Indian foreign policy & strategic affairs, governance, Chinese economy and politics, and on Afghanistan, for global and Indian publications.