Countries should not encourage terror activities: India (Third Lead)

In a veiled attack on Pakistan, India Wednesday said countries must refrain from encouraging or tolerating terror activities and ensure that their territories are not used for setting up terrorist training camps and infrastructure.

Addressing the 83rd general assembly of Interpol, union Home Minister Rajnath Singh called on governments across the world to collectively address the issue of safe havens for organised criminal and terrorist groups.

Interpol is the world's largest international police organisation.

"Governments across the world have to collectively address the issue of safe havens for organised criminal and terrorist groups and their tainted money...," Rajnath Singh said.

"Lifting banking secrecy and the corporate veil in corruption and terrorist-related cases would go a long way in bringing the criminals to book," he added.

Rajnath Singh said 9/11 terror attack in New York had brought home to the western world devastating effects of terrorism and the incident changed the world profoundly.

The developed nations woke up to the threat which India had been grappling since the early '80s, the minister said.

"States must refrain from organising, instigating, facilitating, participating in, financing, encouraging or tolerating terrorist activities. They must take appropriate measures to ensure that their territories were not used for setting up terrorist infrastructure or terror camps," Rajnath Singh said.

India has described Jammat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed as an "evil mastermind" of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks and has been asking Pakistan to take action against him. India has also been pressing that terrorist infrastructure on Pakistani soil be dismantled.

The minister's remarks came a day after the Pentagon in a report said Pakistan is using militant groups as proxies to counter the superior Indian military.

Singh said there was a need for far greater vigilance and stricter provisions so as to make off-shore jurisdiction more transparent.

He also called on evolving a strategy to tackle cyber-crime.

"In the recent years, the internet and social media are being increasingly used to instigate communal riots to destabilise the state. We need to strengthen our strategy relating to cyber-crime on this momentous occasion of the centenary year of the Interpol," the minister tweeted.

The minister highlighted that internet of late has become the "principal means of communication for extremist groups".

"These specific internet forums act as a virtual firewall to help safeguard the identities of those who participate. To counter violent extremists, there is an urgent need to strengthen the Global Counter Terrorism Architecture," he said.

The home minister also pointed out that the 21st century has seen a significant increase in international criminal activity.

"In the 21st century, there has been a significant increase in the range and scope of international criminal activity. The dynamics of globalisation and financial transactions across borders have enabled international crime groups to expand their global reach."

"The world is also witnessing some cataclysmic changes as lethal non-state actors fired by toxic ideology turning into state themselves," Rajnath Singh wrote on Twitter.

Calling for the need for the police and judicial systems to evolve continuously to meet new challenges, the minister said: "Outdated laws have to be weeded out with effective legislations that can address corruption, recovery and confiscation of ill-gotten wealth."

He congratulated Interpol on completing its centenary and lauded its contribution to international cooperation in law enforcement. "We want to see Interpol even more powerful, effective and result oriented."