After West Asia setback, ISIS has turned its focus on South Asia: Sri Lankan PM

The Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Tuesday said that terror group ISIS has turned its focus to South Asia after suffering a setback in the western part of the continent.

"The harrowing events that took place in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, as well as other recent terrorist attacks, are a pressing reminder of the continuing threat from violent non-state actors...," he said during an address at the Indian Ocean Conference (IOC) here.

"The Easter bomb explosions confirm a change in ISIS strategy. After the setback in West Asia, the ISIS has turned its focus on South Asia. The 2016 bombing in Bangladesh, 2017 in Egypt and the one in Indonesia in 2018 are such indicators," he added.

The leader touched upon a variety of issues during his speech at the do, which also saw an address by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.

The Fourth IOC is currently underway in Maldives. The theme of the fourth Indian Ocean Conference - IOC 2019 - is "Securing the Indian Ocean Region: Traditional and Non-Traditional Challenges".

The gruesome Easter Sunday terror attack which rocked Sri Lanka earlier this year claimed the lives of over 250 people.

Two local extremist groups, who had claimed allegiance to the Islamic State, took responsibility for the attack which sent shockwaves across the world.