'Terror outfits set up, sustained to target Indian interests'

New Delhi: India faces threats on a regular basis from "hostile neighbourhood" as well as from international terrorist organisations, which are used by some countries as "instruments" of their foreign policy, a top intelligence official said on Friday.

"Our neighbour does it, they have been doing it for a long time. The threat that we face almost on a regular basis is from hostile neighbourhood. We have Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish e Mohammed, these two organisations have been set up, have been armed and sustained to target Indian interests that includes civil aviation assets as well," Joint Intelligence Committee Chairman R N Ravi said but did not name Pakistan.

He further said the reason there was no agreed definition of terrorism internationally was because some of the countries were using "terror and terrorism as instruments" of their foreign policy.

Speaking at the function to mark the 29th anniversary of Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) here, he noted that all major terror attacks that have happened in the country were acts by terrorist groups from hostile neighbourhood.

"If you look back, all the major attacks -- against Parliament, Akshardam, Mumbai and the latest in Punjab in Pathankot -- all these are the act of terrorist organisations coming from hostile neighbourhood. They will also look for civil aviation targets," he said.

With regard to defining terrorism, Ravi said India would continue its efforts at various levels in the larger interest even as he noted that what the international community would do is for them to decide.

When countries differentiate between good and bad terrorism, then there is a problem, he said.

Besides, Ravi said there are also threats from international terrorist organisations such as ISIS and Al Qaeda in the Indian sub-continent.

"They look at India as an opportunity for growth, spread. Their concept, their philosophy, howsoever perverted it might be, is India is an Islamic space occupied by un-Islamic people and it has to be liberated," he noted.

Ravi also mentioned that within the country also there were "theatres of conflict" such as Maoists issue and North East insurgency.

According to him, an emerging threat that is far more potent is that related to cyber security.

"Ideal security is only an ideal and efforts are being to ensure that there is optimal security," he added.

The Joint Intelligence Committee functions under the National Security Council Secretariat.