Pakistan supports, finances terror as state policy, collect all proof against it: NSA Ajit Doval to ATS, STF chiefs

Asking the top cops to go after the terror sanctuaries, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval said that knowledge of such activities is not sufficient as it is not just about eliminating terrorists. He pointed out that Pakistan has made terror a part of its state policy.

Pakistan supports and finances terror activities and India needs evidence to nail the neighbouring country's role and hand in such heinous activities, said National Security Advisor on Monday in New Delhi. NSA Divol exhorted the anti-terror squad (ATS) and special task force (STF) chiefs of the states to collect all possible evidence against Pakistan and share it while addressing them during a conference organised by the National Investigation Agency.

"The biggest pressure on Pakistan is from the Financial Action Task Force. Collect evidence and share. Everyone knows Pakistan supports and finances terror. Only you people (ATS/STF/NIA) can collect evidence against such terror activities. We are not targeting one country. We need to have evidence. Put facts, use facts, don't destroy evidence, use them. How we did it against Pakistan? Give it to the media, use it. Building out a strategy with an objective to use it against terrorism," advised Doval. He pointed out that Pakistan has made terror a part of its state policy.

Lauding the NIA for curbing terror-related activities in India, Doval claimed that the central agency has done more than any other organisation in tackling such actions. Asking the ATS and STF personnel to become soldiers against terrorism, Doval pointed out that if a person is posted with the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF), then that person is fighting terror. "You are important in fighting terror. be it Hizbul Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Taiba or any other group. You should not think that you are only the investigator. You are soldiers against terrorism. NIA has made the most impact on terror than any other agency so far. They have followed cases very intelligently and it has had the maximum impact," he encouraged.

"Why are we here? Terrorism is nothing new. In the last 30 years, it is been at the forefront. To fight terror is an abstract idea. Any fact, philosophy, adjectives have to be changed in noun and verb. You don't fight terror. You do so by degrading terrorists, by taking their weapon, their concept. When civil society is terrorised. then there is pressure on the government. We don't have to just kill them in encounters. Tackling them is done in three modes. Who are these, where are they getting support money, weapons, funds, and support from other countries," he explained.

Asking the top cops to go after the terror sanctuaries, Doval said that knowledge of such activities is not sufficient as it is not just about eliminating terrorists. "We take a gamut of action. It does not end here. There is a gamut of evidence. We have to take it to the courts. It is an important aspect which helps in tackling terror. What Jammu and Kashmir does, what RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) does, what Intelligence Bureau (IB) does, they all may be different. The state police are the first responder and the responsibility lies with the state, so their role is very important," he added.

Earlier, NIA Director-General Yogesh Chander Modi opened the conference by stating that Bangladeshi terror group Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen was spreading its tentacles across India at a rapid rate using illegal migrants from across the eastern borders of the country.