Nexus of state actors, nuclear traffickers greatest risk, says PM Narendra Modi

Washington: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday asked the global community to give up the notion of "his terrorist is not my terrorist" as he made a veiled attack on Pakistan, saying the "greatest risk" is from state actors working with nuclear traffickers while the responses to such acts are "rooted in the past".

He also pledged USD 1 million to the Nuclear Safety Fund of the IAEA, second such contribution by India in as many years, and highlighted the measures put in place at home to enhance safety and security in the atomic field, including ways to deal with the nuclear waste.

Modi, while speaking at the White House dinner hosted by US President Barack Obama to kick off two-day Nuclear Security Summit here and intervening at the Summit later, underlined the need for maintaining highest level of vigil with regard to nuclear terrorism.

Referring to the recent terror attacks in Brussels, he said it showed how real and immediate the threat to nuclear security is from terrorism and that all countries must completely adhere to their international obligations in this regard.

"Terrorism is globally networked. But, we still act only nationally to counter this threat... Drop the notion that terrorism is someone else's problem and that 'his' terrorist is not 'my' terrorist," he said in a message to the global community.

"The reach and supply chains of terrorism are global, but genuine cooperation between nation states is not," said Modi who was seated next to Obama at the dinner which was attended by heads of States of more than 20 countries.

Outlining three contemporary features of terror that the world should focus on, the Prime Minister said today's terrorism uses extreme violence as 'theatre'.

"Second, we are no longer looking for a man in a cave, but we are hunting for a terrorist in a city with a computer or a smart phone.

"Third, state actors working with nuclear traffickers and terrorists present the greatest risk," he said, in an apparent reference to Pakistan whose top scientist AQ Khan had been indulging in proliferation of nuclear technology.

Dwelling at length on the threat posed by terrorism to the world, Modi said it has evolved and terrorists are using 21st century technology "but our responses are rooted in the past".