LeT, JeM spreading terror in India with Pak's support: Army Chief

Chief of Army Staff General Dalbir Singh on Thursday said terrorist groups like the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) are getting support from Pakistan.

"The spreading influence of ISIS in particular through social and other forms of media has thrown up challenges of global and regional security. In the context of India, terrorist groups like LeT and JeM get candid support from across our western borders, which enables them to spread violence in the country," General Singh said while addressing CLAWS (Centre for Land Warfare Studies) international seminar in the national capital.

"What is worrying is that these groups no longer can be dismissed as regional manifestations of violence. Technology and ideology bind them together and members of any group retain the flexibility of striking targets which have no limits of area of operations, as long as it gives publicity to their ideology, enables spread of this in areas of recruitment and demonstrates their growing influence," he added.

General Singh alleged that the terrorist groups take advantage of international connected systems of finance, communication and transit to retain flexibility of reaching any part of the world.

"It is necessary for the international community to fight this growing menace as one by sharing of intelligence, adopting of training techniques from each other," he said.

Speaking about the Islamic State,General Singh said the terror group's growing influence through the social media has thrown up challenges of global and regional security.

"We need to address not only methods but also factors that contribute to spread of terrorism. The methods and factors that contribute to spread of terrorism generating such comprehensive response has not been easy," he said.

General Singh further stated that cooperation to combat sub-convention threats has been one of the top priorities for India, while engaging with other nations.

"As a society, we need to address these problems jointly. I am sure the deliberations in next two-days during the seminar would leave us more knowledgeable and better equipped to address global security challenges," he added.