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Fake currency emerges as non-military threat to India

India has recognised pumping in of fake currency as one of the main non-military challenges to national security.

The phenomenon, which hurts the national economy, has been recognised as a major non-military security threat in the latest annual report of the ministry of defence in its review of the national security environment.

"India is alive to the danger of the use of illegal instruments like fake currency that hurt the national economy," the report observes in the section on non-military challenges to India's security.

The report also notes that the regular supply of sophisticated weapons and explosives to terrorists, which is taking place from across the border, is a matter of serious concern for India.

It also exhorts the international community to guard against the spectre of the diversion of weapons of mass destruction, sensitive materials and technology to non-state areas.

Among other non-military security challenges the report accuses Pakistan of consistently trying to exploit the Terai region of Nepal and India for subversive activities and making efforts to foment communal tension and disarray in several parts of the country including Kerala, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Hyderabad and Tamil Nadu.

It also says that Pakistani agencies operating from Nepal continue to launch offensive against India. Pakistan is providing supporters of Tehrikul-Mujahideen, Al-Umar and Jammu and Kashmir Islamic Front with safe haven and support.

Towards the end of the 1996 and the beginning of 1997, Indian security forces were able to arrest several Kashmiri militants, along with RDX explosives, who had infiltrated into India from across the Indo-Nepal border.

Observing that although militancy in Jammu and Kashmir had shown a declining trend, there had been an increasing use of explosives by terrorist groups. The revival of political activity in the state, disillusionment of the people with militancy and effective operations of the security forces had been largely responsible for the improved situation.

The report also says that there had been abortive efforts by Pakistani agencies to re-ignite militancy in Punjab. The phenomena of terrorism, separatism and extremism in all forms were being used as instruments of de-stabilisation, primarily against pluralistic and democratic states.

On north-east, the report says that with the improvement of relations with Bangladesh, Nepal and Myanmar, India was in a better position to handle the insurgency situation in the region.

The key insurgent groups in the north-east maintained tactical and strategic linkages with each other. Some militant camps have been dismantled and others were in the process of the being dismantled. A number of ULFA and Bodo camps had been set up on Indo-Bhutan border adding another dimension to the security climate in the north-east.

Countries bordering this area had a common stake in uprooting terrorism and violence from the region to enable the overall development of the people.

Non-military challenges to India's security also include the linked problems of drug-trafficking, terrorism and organised crime. India is located in the middle of two of the world's leading narcotics producing and exporting regions -- North West Pakistan and Afghanistan on one side and Myanmar on the other.

"The involvement of insurgent and criminal groups in the drug trade is especially worrisome," the report says.

The report also says that India's security and prosperity were heavily dependent on energy security. An increasing demand for energy in the future requires a special attention to the geopolitics of energy ranging from the nuclear to fossil fuel-based.

A demand for Heartland has emerged covering the region of China, India and Southeast Asia. Large reserves of oil and gas exist in the periphery of this Heartland, extending from Siberia to Central Asia and the Gulf region, northern Indian Ocean and South and East China seas.

Nearly 40 per cent of the world's oil supplies pass through the Chike Point of the Straits of Hormuz. Some of these areas are already beset with disputes that have a potential for conflict. India's interests are served by an assured environment of peace and cooperation, particularly in the Gulf region, in Central Asia and in India's immediate neighbourhood.

The report noted that India's security was linked directly with its neighbouring countries particularly those with which India has a border (including Afghanistan). India's border security horizon-defined as regions with which economic, social, cultural and environmental linkages result in overlapping security interests -- including countries of ASEAN, central Asia and Gulf regions and the Indian Ocean community.

It also says that India's long-term and immediate security interests lie in encouraging the evolution of the international community towards greater multi-polarity. This requires the emergence of economically strong countries secure within their legally defined borders and interacting with each other and the major powers from a position of mutual benefit, mutual respect and equality.

UNI

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