The Prime Minister has termed terrorism and Maoist violence as two major challenges facing the country.
Addressing the National Integration Council (NIC) meeting in New Delhi on Saturday, Dr Manmohan Singh said the Delhi High Court blast was a stark reminder that there can be no let up in the vigil. He said everyone must unequivocally send out a message that pursuit of violence cannot be justified under any circumstances and reaffirm the collective resolve to fight the menace of terrorism in all its forms with available means.
The Prime Minister said no civilised society can tolerate or endorse loss of innocent lives in the pursuit of any ideology. He said, institutions and instruments of the country's democratic polity allow sufficient opportunity for articulating differing view without resorting to violence.
Dr Singh stressed on the need to identify and address the causes of radicalisation of some of the country's youth. Referring to steps being taken to strengthen security agencies, Dr Singh said there was a need to continuously upgrade and strengthen them and the intelligence gathering apparatus to deal more effectively with the newer methods and technologies that the terrorists and Naxals adopt.
The Prime Minister said, the government has tried hard to strengthen the country's security apparatus. He said intelligence sharing mechanism under the Multi-Agency Centre has been bolstered and the National Intelligence Grid is being implemented so that intelligence from various sources can be accessed and analysed to identify actionable points.
Dr Singh said the problem of Naxalism has a development dimension also and the Centre is making special efforts for development of backward areas, many of which are affected by Left-wing extremism.
The Prime minister stressed that the Central and state governments have to work together to confront the challenges to the internal security.
The Prime Minister said the investigating agencies should free from bias and prejudices of any kind.
The Prime Minister said, the active interest displayed recently by the people in the national debate on corruption augurs well for the future of the country. On the development front, Dr Singh said, the government has taken several steps to ensure higher growth, coupled with greater inclusion.
The meeting was attended by senior Union Ministers, Chief Ministers, Leaders of Opposition in Parliament, leaders of national and regional political parties among others.
