Tracking PM in America : Time to delink terror from religion, need global response against IS, says Narendra Modi

Prime Minister Modi’s discussions with King Abdullah II focused on global cooperation in fighting the IS — Modi is scheduled to visit Jordan next month.

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For Jordan, the IS threat has come closer home after the group’s fighters stormed the Syrian city of Palmyra, less than 300 km from its northern border. Earlier, after a Jordanian air force plane was shot down and its pilot burnt alive by the IS, King Abdullah described the fight against IS as the “third world war” that brought together Christians, Muslims, Jews and people of other faiths against the group.

Earlier this month, the Union Home Ministry told the Delhi High Court that it does not want Indians to fight against the IS in Iraq and Syria since that can “directly result in sectarian conflict in India”. Submitting an affidavit, the ministry said it wanted to restrain Indian citizens from travelling to Iraq and Syria to participate in the conflict there because they could get radicalised and, on their return, indulge in extremist activities in India.

After the meeting between Modi and King Abdullah, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Vikas Swarup said, “Both leaders acknowledged that ISIS was one of the greatest challenges facing the international community. The Prime Minister said that there is a need to delink terrorism from religion.” Both leaders also affirmed that terrorism had no religion and posed a threat to humanity.

An estimated 2,000 youth from the Hashemite kingdom are said to have joined IS, and the country is fearful of the consequences. India counts 37 of its own as having joined the IS.

National Security Adviser Ajit K Doval was also present at the meeting with the Jordanian King, as well as Prime Minister Modi’s call on Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven.

Egypt too has faced IS ferocity. IS-backed militants killed about a 100 people including Egyptian leaders in the Sinai in July, and earlier this year, IS beheaded 21 Egyptian workers. In response, Egypt sent in war planes to target IS strongholds in Libya.

The Egyptian leader praised India for having resisted the spread of IS ideology among its Muslim youth, Swarup said. Sisi invited India to invest in the New Suez Canal.

The threat from IS also came up in discussions with Lofven. Modi asked Sweden to invest and participate in his flagship skills development and smart cities projects.