India’s response in Mumbai attack aftermath lauded

Chertoff was speaking about the lessons that the US learned in its fight against terrorism and India should also come up with ways to tackle it.

“India happens to be in a bad neighbourhood. With Pakistan,Afghanistan,Myanmar and the Indian Ocean around it,it has to increase its security to prevent any attacks,” he said.

Chertoff also said that in a situation like India,“cool heads are desirable” and lauded “the calculated response of the Indian government.”

“The subcontinent being a nuclear zone,the results of a conflict could be devastating. Terrorists would love to trigger a nuclear response. The Mumbai attacks may have been designed to provoke that kind of response,” he said.

The former secretary also talked about the disturbances in Maoist areas saying if the Maoists have support from the local population,India should look at its reasons.

“It is mostly the economic reasons that get the terrorists their support. I do not say that money is a panacea,but it certainly helps in situations like these,” he said.

Chertoff also said that the present form of terrorism has made the US think about issues like asylum and the laws regarding detained terrorists who could be dangerous in the future.

The talk was hosted by Ajit Doval,former director of Intelligence.