Close on the heels of the terrorist attacks in France and Denmark and the beheadings of 21 Egyptian Christians by the Islamic State militant group, the White House has convened a three-day summit to discuss ways to counter “violent extremism”. India, which is among 60 countries that will be attending the summit, will be represented by RN Ravi, chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee.
“We remain particularly concerned about the possibility of groups like (the Islamic State) recruiting Americans to fight, but at the same time, the message at the White House and the agenda itself is not entirely focused on ISIl,” an official said, adding: “We also recognise that in the United States there have been violent extremists that come in all sorts of shapes and sizes.”
The official’s comment came against the backdrop of Republican criticism of President Barack Obama for not calling it a summit to counter “radical Islam”. The White House says the focus of the summit will be on confronting the issue of extremism as a whole, rather than target one group. Obama will be addressing the summit, which will be opened by Vice-President Joe Biden.