Terrorism in India 'exported', not home-grown: PM Narendra Modi

NEW YORK: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that all terrorism in India is "exported" and are not "home-grown", asserting it has "no borders.

Modi said this even as he rejected any distinction between good and bad terrorism and called for a collective fight to effectively tackle the global challenge.

The Prime Minister dwelt at length on the challenges posed by terrorism while addressing the Council for Foreign Relations here yesterday on the fourth day of his five-day visit to the US.

Asked by a questioner about the rise of Islamic State (IS) militants in West Asia and whether there was any danger that such unrest might spread to India, the Prime Minister ruled that out and said that all terrorism activities in our country "are exported and are not home-grown."

The Prime Minister also told told the audience about his response that "Muslims of India will fail al-Qaeda" to a question by CNN about the al-Qaeda threat in India.

"People of all communities in India are driven by a core philosophy. That is symbolised by Buddha, Mahatma Gandhi. Non-violence is at the core of our philosophy...," he said.

"Terrorism has no borders..There is no good terrorist or bad terrorist. Terrorism is terrorism," the Prime Minister said.

"There is a need to take the challenge of terrorism seriously. It's sad that many countries could not earlier understand the ugly face of terrorism which is enemy of humanity," he said.

The Prime Minister said it cannot be measured on the scale of political plus and minus.

"The world will have to speak in one voice against terrorism," he stressed.

Making a reference to the ISIS assassination of hostages, Modi said," when I saw it on television that a man has been beheaded it's such a challenge in the 21st century for the mankind, a challenge that can shake up anyone... Terrorism is mankind's enemy."