New Delhi: India’s premier agency responsible for gathering and analysing intelligence from abroad, the Research and Analysis Wing, held its annual lecture series on Friday, which began in 2007 to honour its founder, Rameshwar Nath Kao.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah delivered his address at the event this year on “Narcotics: A Borderless Threat, A Collective Responsibility”.
In his statement, the Home Minister said that under the leadership of PM Modi, India had set a national goal to achieve a Drug-Free India by 2047.
He stated that Indian security agencies had prepared a roadmap to eradicate drug syndicates and are working towards this goal.
Union Minister Shah categorically affirmed that under India’s policy of “zero tolerance” towards drugs, the country would ensure that not one gram of narcotics is allowed to enter the country or leave it using India as a transit route.
Highlighting that drug trafficking was not just a law-and-order subject to be handled by the police or anti-narcotics agencies, he said that it has a long-lasting impact on society and future generations.
Thus, it demands a comprehensive response, he asserted.
He also added that while there was awareness about drug money being funnelled to fund terrorists and criminal networks and fuelling a parallel economy, what largely went unnoticed was the permanent damage drug abuse caused to the human body.
Shah cautioned that there was still time for all responsible nations of the world to work together to defeat this threat, adding that if joint efforts were not initiated now, after 10 years the world would realise that it was too late to reverse the harm it had caused.
The Home Minister called for a unified global effort in the war on drugs, stressing the need for a unified legal framework to deal with the issue.
He further said that unless there was a high degree of global alignment on what is designated as controlled substances, as well as common standard penalties for drug trafficking, drug cartels would continue to take advantage of inconsistencies in policy, thereby weakening efforts to fight this threat.
Underlining that the scope for international cooperation on countering narcotics trafficking was crucial, he underscored the importance of sharing real-time intelligence to interdict narcotics consignments and detain or deport drug kingpins.
During the address, he also shared that over the last two years, India had successfully brought back more than 40 transnational criminals to the country with the support of friendly nations.
However, he added that more needed to be done.
He stated that there is a need for all responsible countries to reach a consensus on the fact that the war on drugs is critical for national security, protecting public health, and preventing narco-states from becoming alternative power centres.
To achieve this goal, the Home Minister called for close international coordination.
He called upon the ambassadors and diplomats present in the audience to join India’s efforts in the war against drugs, underscoring the need for serious collaboration.
The world, with a population of 8 billion people, 195 nations, and 250,000 kilometres of international borders, cannot tackle the problem of drugs through fragmented approaches, he added.
He added that this battle must rise above geopolitical differences and individual national interests.
The world must simultaneously fight both narco-networks and narco-terror states, he said.
The world will have to adopt uniform laws for a common definition of prohibited substances, standardised punishments for drug trafficking, extradition of drug kingpins, and intelligence sharing, Shah stated.
Present at the event were members of the Kao family, former secretaries of the Research and Analysis Wing, ambassadors, high commissioners, and diplomats from more than 40 countries, along with officials from India’s other security agencies.
(IANS)
