Ambassadors Roundtable Series- India Event Summary

As part of the Ambassador Roundtable Series on International Collaboration to Combat Terrorism and Insurgencies, The Homeland Security Policy Institute and the International Center for Terrorism Studies co-hosted Indian Ambassador Ronen Sen on February 12, 2008.

India is no stranger to terrorism. From Kashmir to Assam to spillover from the conflict in Sri Lanka, India has had to deal with an array of terrorist groups and insurgencies for decades, killing tens of thousands of Indians. As the Cold War was ending, said the Ambassador, India was one of the first countries to identify terrorism as one of the most important threats that the international community would face in the coming years. Though this warning was met with skepticism by the international community, which viewed terrorism as a regional, containable problem, there is now recognition that terrorism is a global phenomenon that must be addressed in a comprehensive manner.

To this end, India is working closely with the US to combat terrorism. The Ambassador described joint working groups, information exchanges and intelligence sharing, a bilateral cyber-security forum, and military-to-military cooperation, including joint exercises. India and the US have an ongoing dialogue on homeland security, border management, terrorist financing, transportation security, and other issues. This extensive cooperation, along with other bilateral, regional, and multilateral relationships, are essential to combating terrorism. The footprint of terrorism is expanding – radicalization has occurred in places as varied as Kashmir, Hamburg, and Virginia, and no country can isolate itself from terrorism or tackle it alone. India, said the Ambassador, will not relent in the fight against terrorism if it must go it alone, but prefers to work with other countries in a comprehensive, cooperative manner.

This work is necessary because, as Ambassador Sen warned, terrorist groups are constantly evolving, becoming more sophisticated in their operations and adept at using technologies. Multiple sleeper cells, harder to detect and more adaptable, are replacing larger organizations. Nuclear terrorism, which the Ambassador described as his “worst-case nightmare,” is a possibility. International efforts against terrorism have targeted terrorist financing, states that harbor terrorists, and terrorist activity in cyberspace, but, the Ambassador said, efforts are not as thorough as they should be. The fight against terrorism, he said, will be a long one, and he believes that effective counterterrorism must target terrorism at its earliest stages, indoctrination and recruitment. Frank Cilluffo, Director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute, agreed, saying that we have barely scratched the surface in combating extremist propaganda and appeal.

The Ambassador was clear that terrorism was not limited to any one group, religious or otherwise. Mohandas Gandhi, he pointed out, was killed by a Hindu extremist, while Prime Minister Rajiv was assassinated by an LTTE suicide bomber. Ambassador Sen credited India’s democracy with helping reduce the threat of radicalization at home – though India’s society is diverse and fractious, democracy brings together its many components, including India’s large Muslim population. Because of this, terrorists frequently target democratic institutions, pluralist and secular communities, and free markets. It is not an accident, said the Ambassador, that terrorist attacks focus on democratic symbols, like Parliament, when other targets are easier to strike.

The Ambassador described one area of counterterrorism where he believed India had largely failed, the state of Jammu and Kashmir. There, he said, an insurgency that began as a nationalist, indigenous movement has become radicalized, religious in orientation, and thoroughly dominated by foreigners, some with close relations with the Pakistani military.

When asked about India’s sometimes-chaotic neighborhood, Ambassador Sen said that India has a vital national security interest in the stability and prosperity of Afghanistan and Pakistan. The unity and integrity of both, he said, are vital to India’s security. Though a poor country, India has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in Afghanistan, financing health, power transmission, and the construction of Afghanistan’s new parliament building, to name a few projects. India is also cooperating closely with the US there, pursuing projects that benefit both countries. By building power transmission lines to Kabul, for example, India will help reduce that city’s reliance on expensive diesel generators, reducing costs for US personnel there.

Ambassador Sen believes that no other country has a neighborhood as diverse as India’s, and sees challenges in Pakistan’s political transition, conflict in Sri Lanka and Nepal, and the slow pace of reform in China. However, he believes that progress towards democracy, however faltering, is inevitable. With a big stake in the outcome, Ambassador Sen believes that India has the patience to promote developments towards democracy in its neighborhood.

The Ambassador Roundtable Series is designed to provide Ambassadors to the United States and their key diplomatic staff with a forum to discuss current and future counterterrorism and counterinsurgency efforts on a regional or country-specific basis. In an effort to draw upon various insights and experiences, the Ambassadors Roundtable Series builds upon and institutionalizes efforts over the past two years to engage in a dialogue with members of the international community, policy makers, and practitioners.

For further inquries, please email hspi@gwu.edu with the subject 'Ambassadors Roundtable Series Inquiries'.