The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, today said that the establishment of National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) is not a State versus Centre issue.
Addressing the Chief Ministers’ conference on the proposed National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), Dr Singh said: “It is not our Government’s intention in any way to affect the distribution of powers between the States and the Centre that our Constitution provides.’’
The primary purpose of the anti-terror agency was to coordinate counter-terrorism efforts throughout the country as the Intelligence Bureau has been doing so far, he added.
The NCTC should be a vehicle of the nation’s combined efforts to reach the shared goal of curbing terrorism and eradicating militancy.
“I believe that it is the responsibility of the Centre to give form and shape to a cohesive national approach and strategy based on information gathered globally and from all the states. On their part, the states should use their expertise, knowledge and machinery to secure their own territories and work in coordination with the Centre and the states,’’ the PM said.
New security architecture
Earlier the Home Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, said that as according to the Constitution, counter-terrorism is a shared responsibility.
According to him, one of the premises of the new security architecture is that terrorists do not recognise boundaries between countries or boundaries between states belonging to a country.
Talking about the practices in other countries, the Home Minister said in the US, the NCTC has the mandate to conduct counter-terrorism operations involving all elements of national power. There are also FBI and the Secret Service with nationwide jurisdiction.
In Germany, there is GTAZ (Joint Counter Terrorism Centre) and the GIZ (Joint Internet Surveillance Centre). In the Indian context, the NCTC will be an important pillar of new security architecture, he added.