Advocating the need for setting up the National Counter Terrorism Centre, the Home Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, today said terrorists do not recognise boundaries.

Hence, the Centre and State Governments have to work together to make the country safe and secure.

Addressing the Chief Ministers’ conference on the proposed National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), which is facing stiff opposition from non-Congress Chief Ministers, including UPA ally Ms Mamata Banerjee, Mr Chidambaram said terrorists do not recognise the boundaries of countries or states and terrorist threats are taking new dimension going beyond the physical space.

“We have to work together. Working together — State Governments and the Central Government working together, the Opposition and the Treasury working together, civil society organisations and Government institutions working together — I am confident we can make the country more safe and more secure,” he said.

New security architecture

The Home Minister said the NCTC will be an important pillar of new security architecture considering the fact that under the Constitution, countering terrorism is a shared responsibility of the Central Government and the State Governments.

“That terrorists do not recognise boundaries between countries or boundaries between states belonging to a country; That many terrorist organisations have footprints in several countries and have the capacity to commit terrorist acts across borders or boundaries; that human resources alone are not sufficient to counter terrorism; technology is the key weapon in this conflict,” he said.

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