NEW DELHI: Warning that terror groups are involved in drug trafficking, India today pressed for bringing international and domestic laws in sync for real deterrence and prevent those involved from going scot-free because of lack of consonance between the laws of different nations.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh said India faces a serious challenge because of drug trafficking due its proximity to major opium-growing areas of the region and the agencies concerned are dealing with it effectively.
Addressing the South Asia Sub-Regional Drug Focal Point Meeting and Drug Demand Reduction expert group consultation here, he said the global society is facing serious consequences of drug abuse and it undermines the socio- economic and political stability and sustainable development.
“Involvement of various terrorist groups and syndicates in drug trafficking leads to threat to the national security and sovereignty of states by the way of narco-terrorism,” he said.
“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,” he said.
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 South West and South East Asia are more vulnerable for drug trafficking and its abuse, the Home Minister said.
He said the central government is well aware of the menace in the region and the national and state agencies in coordination with agencies of neighbouring countries are making all efforts to contain the problem.
In order to enhance Inter-governmental cooperation and coordination with neighbouring and other countries, India has entered into various arrangements like bilateral agreements, Memorandum of Understandings, Joint Working Groups on Counter Terrorism and Judicial Cooperation with the countries in the region, Singh said.
Pointing out that trafficking of drugs and its linkages with other organised crimes is a major challenge for the drug law enforcement agencies, he said the Home Ministry, Narcotics Control Bureau and other drug law enforcement agencies of India are fully capable to deal with such challenges.
He said the agencies are taking concerted steps for eliminating the menace of drug trafficking.
Intelligence inputs are also shared with the neighbouring countries on real time basis, in cases where any institutional mechanism exists, but, to put a strong check on the trafficking activities, the government, the civil society and the citizens at large will have to come together to meet the challenges of drug trafficking, he said. (AGENCIES)
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