India is not going to join “any coalition” in the ongoing fight against the dreaded ISIS group in West Asia but agreed to work with the US to deal with the “major issue” of flight of radicalised people to that region for terror strikes. A very tactically sorted out move and why not? India has been fighting its own war on terror for the last two decades in Jammu and Kashmir and in the North Eastern region of the country. In the initial days of terrorism no country took India’s claim seriously that the terror was being ‘exported’. And in the denial war it was America which was in the forefront with its interests lying in the neighbouring countries. It was 9/11 which changed that country’s perception towards terrorism. Rest is history. While India was able to secure the release of 46 Indian nurses held captive by ISIS in Iraq in July, reports suggest that forty other Indians are still in captivity in Iraq. So far, more than 40 countries have joined US in creating a global coalition against the Islamic State. The Indian stand over any participation in the US-led coalition air strikes in the war on terrorism against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria was outlined by an official of Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi shared his concerns during summit talks with President Barack Obama over emerging challenges in West Asia. In what could be a warning bell for the security agencies in India, reports have emerged that the dreaded ISIS group has been recruiting youths from states like Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra and Jammu and Kashmir to fight in Iraq, Syria and other places in the Middle East. It has also been said that the ISIS is particularly targeting Muslim youths. India also clarified that a trilateral partnership agreed on Afghanistan, would be developmental in nature and not military cooperation. The “joint and concerted efforts” on dismantling safe havens for terrorist groups and criminal networks as resolved by India and the US did not mean that the two countries were going to launch operations but will carry out any UN-mandated task.
