Terrorism or extremism can be countered by international cooperation: Hamid Ansari

Asserting that terrorism or extremism has now become an international phenomenon, Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari has said the only way it can be countered is by international cooperation.

"It has come up. When we talked about extremism, terrorism and all that, we talked about it. And our point of view was very consistent. Terrorism or extremism has become now an international phenomenon, and the only way it can be countered is by international cooperation. You cannot say that this is a problem of country X which is far away from country Y because we do not know what connections are being established between these groups," Vice President Ansari told the media en route from Vientiane to New Delhi when asked whether there was any mention about the security and terrorism related issues.

"Kahin par drug connection hai, kahin par extremism ka connection hai, kahin par arms ka connection hai, kahin par paise ka connection hai. So, for that international cooperation has become an absolute necessity. It is not a matter of choice ki hum inse cooperate karenge aur unse nahin karenge. Sab hain is problem mein," he added.

Vice President Ansari further said India has a very clear-cut view on Southeast Asia.

"We are not in the business of providing stabilisers. That has to be done by shipbuilding industry. India is a neighbour of Southeast Asia. India has a very clear-cut view on Southeast Asia. We want to develop comprehensive relationships based on satisfaction of each others' requirement. What is the requirement? The requirement is peace, stability, development. Everything else follows from it. If there is no peace and stability, there will be no trade, there will be no investment, there will be no relations. In that we have a convergence of views. There is no difficulty. Whether you talk about it in Singapore or you talk about it in Thailand or in Phnom Penh or Vientiane or anywhere else in ASEAN, the view is the same," said Vice President Ansari.

"They have embarked on an exercise, a regional exercise called ASEAN. India has a very good relationship with ASEAN and it is incumbent on us and we have done to have not only good relations with something called ASEAN but good relations with every member of ASEAN. That we are diligently doing and we will continue to do it. Now, if they have any problems among themselves, it is for them to resolve them. ASEAN has its own mechanism for resolving problems. They usually go and play golf and solve problems," he added when asked whether India can emerge as a stabilising force in the Southeast Asian region as many of these Southeast Asian countries have disputes differences amongst them - territorial and maritime.