Indian, EU experts discuss how to counter violent extremism
The workshop brought together counterterrorism experts and senior representatives from EU and Indian security agencies and policy institutions
NEW DELHI: The European Union (EU) on Wednesday organised a technical workshop on preventing and countering violent extremism in New Delhi that was joined by counterterrorism and security officials of India and EU member states.
The workshop, held on the sidelines of the Raisina Dialogue, focused whole-of-government approaches to fight extremism, risk evaluation processes, exit programs and reintegration strategies. Participants agreed on the need for continued collaboration on “soft and hard security aspects of counterterrorism”, an EU statement said.
The event brought together counterterrorism experts and senior representatives from EU and Indian security agencies and policy institutions to exchange best practices on prevention, de-radicalisation and rehabilitation of violent extremists.
The workshop was a follow-up to the recent visit to India by the European College of Commissioners visit to India, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen underscored the need for deeper collaboration in counter-terrorism and strengthening cooperation to combat terrorism and terror financing. Both sides also committed to exploring a security and defence partnership.
The workshop was opened by EU Ambassador Hervé Delphin, and the EU delegation included security practitioners from EU institutions and member states (Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, the Netherlands).
Former National Investigation Agency (NIA) director general Dinkar Gupta said: “India and the EU face evolving security threats that require innovative and collaborative solutions. Learning from each other’s experiences will help us build more effective strategies for deradicalisation, rehabilitation and long-term prevention.”
Maciej Stadejek, director for security and defence policy in the European External Action Service, said: “This workshop is a testament to the deepening EU-India partnership in counterterrorism and security cooperation. By sharing expertise and fostering dialogue, we are strengthening our collective ability to prevent and counter violent extremism while upholding democratic values and human rights.”
The workshop also aligns with the EU’s Indo-Pacific strategy and builds on ongoing EU-India counter-terrorism engagement under the project ESIWA+ (Enhancing the EU’s Security Cooperation In and With Asia & the Indo-Pacific), including chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) risk management training for Indian security practitioners, countering online terrorism, and drone terrorism.
In February 2022, the EU and India held their first joint workshop on terrorism content online, building on the counter-terrorism dialogue initiated in November 2020. Since then, the dialogue has continued to prioritise the regulation of terrorist content online, elevating it to one of the top two main priorities during the March 2022 discussions. This was again in focus at the recently concluded College of Commissioners visit to India.