'Pakistan is trying to bleed India'

India's engines of economic growth run the risk of terrorist attacks sponsored by Pakistan, which is trying to bleed India through a thousand cuts, a top home ministry official said on Tuesday.

India's engines of economic growth run the risk of terrorist attacks sponsored by Pakistan, which is trying to bleed India through a thousand cuts, a top home ministry official said on Tuesday.

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"This (jihadi) brand of terrorism is primarily sponsored by our neighbouring country in the west, whose policy is to conduct war against India by all other means and bleed us through a thousand cuts. This naturally includes targeting of anything...with a view to damage, degrade or destroy the engines of economic growth and critical centres of power and strength of our country," secretary (internal security) in the Union home ministry UK Bansal said.

Bansal said this at a seminar on 'The challenge of terrorism to India's infrastructure and economy', organised by Security Watch India.

"It is legitimate to anticipate that countries and entities hostile to the Indian interest will try to extract maximum advantage by attacking our economic and high-value targets. Critical economic infrastructure is obviously in the firing line," he said.

Bansal added that these activities were being "planned, financed and facilitated" from across the western border.

"A massive security effort is warranted to prevent and deal with security threats to our vital and high-value targets," he said.

Referring to the Naxal menace, Bansal said the central government was actively promoting all kinds of expertise required by the central police forces.

Director General of CRPF K Vijay Kumar said the paramilitary force was recruiting ex-army men and creating an IED school to counter improvised explosive devices in collaboration with the Army.