Joint working group meet: Online radicalisation, terror financing issues to be raised

NEW DELHI: Intelligence sharing, terror financing and influence of Islamic State (IS) will be taken up with France at the joint working group (JWG) meeting in New Delhi on December 8. At the counter-terrorism dialogue, India will propose to identify and choke the sources of fund for terror outfits, including Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT). The officials say online radicalisation among Indian diaspora might also be raised during the talks.

Officials say counter-terrorism is the key pillar of Indo-French strategic cooperation. The two countries have instituted NSA-level dialogue besides cooperation among various security agencies and NSG & its French counterpart.

As many as 1,500 French nationals are known to have joined IS ranks and 100 of them have been identified. Government sources also said France is also keen to understand the model being adopted by India to stop radicalisation among youths. While France is said to have the largest Muslim population in Europe, India has the second highest Muslim population.

Despite this, the government claim that there are very few who have joined the global outfit IS. The security agencies however are worried after the recent release of an IS e-book on jihadist platforms called Black Flags that says: “The Islamic State would now expand beyond Iraq and Syria — the Black Flags states. It would now expand into India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and several other countries.”

It also directly names PM Narendra Modi and offers analysis on the beef controversy in India. “A movement of Hindus is growing who kill Muslims who eat beef. The people who fund these organisations want to grow a huge following of Islamhaters who can turn into potential recruits for future wars in their countries,” the online document reads.