How India and France can fight terrorism

India and France have signed several pacts and one among them is fighting terror together. Both India and France share a common problem where terrorism is concerned and security experts say that the joint cooperation will go a long way in combating the problem.

While France has been fighting in Syria against the ISIS, India may not join the war along with the rest of the nations. India has made it clear that it would only be part of a coalition fighting the ISIS if the United Nations passes a resolution.

Intelligence sharing will be crucial

For India and France the sharing of intelligence will be extremely crucial. Both nations depend very heavily on concrete and actionable intelligence to battle terror. Although India is not as badly affected as France where the ISIS in particular is concerned, the threat can however not be ignored.

Only last week there was a letter sent to the French consulate in Bengaluru threatening to carry out an attack protesting the visit by Francois Hollande the French president to India. The ISIS does not fight a country specific war. It is a global outfit and will look to recruit from across the globe.

It has been found during the investigations that are being conducted by the National Investigating Agency that attempts were being made to recruit youth to carry out attacks on other nations including France. With France, India can enhance intelligence sharing so that a threat perception can be countered immediately.

Moreover the threat from the ISIS is largely online and in this regard the cyber security cooperation between the two countries will also be crucial. India has faced problems in the past when it comes to cyber security.

While Indian agencies have managed to track down activities online, it has not been able to convince the mail service providers to share more details as they have often quoted privacy issues. France could help India in this aspect, security officials point out.