Collect Evidence, Use Facts: NSA Ajit Doval Outlines India's Plan to Counter Terror from Pakistan

New Delhi: As the Financial Action Task Force meets in Paris to decide on the blacklisting of Pakistan, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval has asked anti-terror forces in India to renew their push to collect evidence against the neighbouring country for terror activities.

Speaking at the two-day anti-terror conference organised by the National Investigation Agency, Doval said: "The biggest pressure on Pakistan is from FATF. Everyone knows Pakistan supports and finances terror. Only you people (ATS/STF/NIA) can collect evidence. We are not targeting one country. We need to have evidence. Put facts, use facts.”

Praising the NIA, Doval said the anti-terror investigation agency had successfully collected evidence against Pakistan in Kashmir, which had contributed to exposing the neighbour internationally and ending terror funding in the Valley. “The NIA has made the maximum impact on terror compared to any other agency so far. They have followed cases very intelligently and this has had maximum impact,” Doval said.

The Financial Action Task Force is meeting in Paris from October 13-18 and on top of the agenda is a resolution to blacklist Pakistan for terror funding. The NIA, during its presentation at the ATS conference, showed how investigation in cases of Kashmir terror funding, Faalah-e-insaniyat and Khalistani terrorists have shown clear linkages to Pakistan. The same evidence has been used by India to expose Pakistan at FATF meetings in Bangkok.

Speaking at the event, NIA DG YC Modi red-flagged a new terror threat from Bangladesh-based JMB. Modi said the Jamaat-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) was trying to recruit in Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Kerala and Jharkhand using illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. "A list of 125 suspects has been shared with different states," Modi said.

Home Minister Amit Shah was the chief guest for the two-day conference that is meant to come up with a comprehensive countrywide anti-terror framework but he backed out at the last minute due to an “urgent task”, Doval said.

Doval also used the opportunity to caution police officers on their media engagement, saying media was an integral part of the anti-terror strategy and information must not be kept from them. "Don’t destroy evidence, use them like how we did against Pakistan. Give it to the media; use it. Build a strategy with objective to use it against terrorism. We must change media policy. We must tell media as when we don’t, the media speculates.”