Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday said terror groups are involved in drug trafficking and the presence of such groups was seen in major opium-growing regions.
Addressing the South Asia Sub-Regional Drug Focal Point Meeting and Drug Demand Reduction expert group consultation, Singh urged the South Asian Governments to have uniformity in laws in tackling the narcotics trade menace in the region. Pakistan skipped the meet. “Involvement of various terrorist groups and syndicate in drug trafficking leads to threat to national security and sovereignty of States, this is narco-terrorism. With the growth and development of world economy, drug traffickers are seamlessly trafficking various type of drugs from one corner to other, ensuring the availability of the contrabands for vulnerable segment of the society who fall into the trap of drug peddlers and traffickers,” said Singh.
Underlining that drug trafficking is a trans-national phenomenon, Singh said the “international and domestic laws should be so legislated that they are in sync and coherence so as to act as a real deterrent for the drug traffickers, who otherwise are able to go scot-free because of lack of consonance between the laws of different countries.”
He said due to close proximity to major opium-growing areas of the region, India is facing the serious menace of drug trafficking and as a spillover effect, drug abuse especially among the youth is a matter of concern for us. The Home Minister appealed to all the stakeholders to work towards a regime which allows for the effective handling of this transnational menace.
Due to presence of “Golden Crescent” and “Golden Triangle” in the region, part of SW and SE Asia are more vulnerable for drug trafficking and its abuse, the Home Minister said.
In order to enhance Inter-governmental cooperation and coordination with neighbouring and other countries, India has entered into various arrangements like bilateral agreements, MoU, Joint Working Groups on Counter Terrorism and Judicial Cooperation with the countries in the region, Singh said.