Ahead of 26/11 anniversary, Israel designates LeT as terror organisation

The Embassy of Israel in India termed the LeT as a "deadly and reprehensible terror organisation, responsible for the murder of hundreds of Indian civilians as well as others"

Ahead of the 15th anniversary of 26/11, the terror attacks that took place in Mumbai on November 26, 2008, Israel designated Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) as a terror organisation on Tuesday. The terrorist organisation was behind the attacks that claimed 166 lives and left 300 injured.

The Embassy of Israel in India said that the Indian government has not requested them to take this step. It termed the LeT as a "deadly and reprehensible terror organisation, responsible for the murder of hundreds of Indian civilians as well as others".

The embassy said, "While Israel only lists terror organisations who are actively operating against it from within or around its borders, or in a similar manner to India — those globally recognised by the UNSC or the US State Department; the Israeli ministries of Defence and Foreign affairs have jointly worked in the last few months towards an expedited and extraordinary listing of the LeT organisation on this date, to highlight the importance of a unified global front in combating terrorism."

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The statement further added, "The state of Israel offers its sincere condolences to all victims of terrorism and the survivors and bereaved families of the Mumbai attacks, including those in Israel. We stand with you united in the hope for a better, peaceful future."

India has been asking for a global consensus on fighting terrorism and has stressed the need for a "uniform, unified and zero-tolerance approach". At the G20 meeting this year, Union Home Minister Amit Shah stressed the need for global unity in fighting emerging challenges in terrorism and terror financing.

At the Interpol's 90th General Assembly in New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "Despite all the past successes, today, I want to remind the world about a few things. There are many harmful globalised threats that the world faces. Terrorism, corruption, drug trafficking, poaching and organised crime. The pace of change of these dangers is faster than earlier. When threats are global, the response cannot be just local. It is high time that the world comes together to defeat these threats."