India calls for deeper global cooperation to tackle extremism

Kuala Lumpur: Alarmed over growing cyber crimes and violent extremism the world is grappling with, India Friday said it is imperative for the global community to ensure deeper cooperation to tackle the menace.

"The anonymity and inter-connectivity of cyberspace is not just exploited by criminals and terrorists to carry out identity theft, financial fraud, terrorist activities and stealing of corporate information, but also by some state actors to conduct espionage, disrupt critical infrastructure and plant malicious software which can be exploited in various ways," warned minister of state for External Affairs V K Singh.

Cyberspace is now acknowledged as the fifth domain of human activity, after land, sea, air and outer space, Singh said in his keynote address?at the 4th Roundtable of ASEAN- India Network of Think Tanks.

"Since cyber-crime usually has a transnational dimension, there is crucial need for cooperation to exchange experiences and share best practices for protection of information infrastructures," he said.

Referring to the just concluded ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) meet and the East Asia Summit (EAS), he said the meeting deliberated upon the grave challenge from the rapid rise of violent extremism and radicalism that put our societies and values at risk.

"The success of ISIS in using cyber space for radical propaganda, raising funds, and recruiting young, educated, Foreign Terrorist Fighters from every continent to join their war in Iraq and Syria, poses a threat that we are all grappling with in varying measure," he said.

Singh said terrorist actors in theatres from Syria, Iraq to Af-Pak were interconnected through terror networks.

"The supply chains of different elements including spread of extremist ideology, recruitment, training, travel and financing are truly global in nature.

"Therefore, it is imperative for the international community to ensure deeper and wider international cooperation to be able to successfully deal with this menace.

The minister said while concerted action was needed?to deprive terrorist actors of access to finance and arms, there was also a need to address extremism and radicalisation.

"In that context, Malaysia's global Movement of Moderates (GMM) initiative, which essentially calls upon the voices of moderation to drown the voices of extremism, is laudable and has earned support from us all," he added.