India: Terrorism

Mr. Dismore
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received of terrorist attacks in India over the last 12 months, broken down by (a) location and (b) community affected.

Bill Rammell
We have received reports of numerous terrorist attacks in India over the last 12 months. The most significant have been:

23 November 2007: Varanasi, Faizabad and Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, killing 13 people

13 May 2008: Jaipur, killing 80

25 July 2008: Bangalore, killing two

26 July 2008: Ahmedabad, killing 49

13 September 2008: Delhi, five serial bomb blasts killed at least 23 and injured over 100

27 September 2008: South Delhi, killing two and injuring two dozen

29 September 2008: Modasa (Gujarat), and Malegaon (Maharashtra), killing four and injuring 51

1 October 2008: Agartala (Tripura), injuring 50

The multi-ethnic and multicultural character of Indian society means it is not possible to single out which communities have been affected.

There have been several other low-level attacks in India over the last 12 months. Notably, Naxalite activity has registered consistently high levels of violence in recent years, averaging around 1,500 incidents and 800 deaths each year since 2003. These are higher casualty figures than for Jammu and Kashmir and the insurgencies in Northeast India.

Mr. Dismore
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what support the Government is providing to India to assist counter-terrorism activities in India; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell
The UK and India enjoy a close working relationship on countering terrorism and extremism. This is underpinned by Prime Ministerial agreement at annual UK/India summits to work together in specific areas.

At the most recent summit in January we agreed to intensify practical co-operation and the sharing of experience in the fight against terrorism. We have agreed to build on existing co-operation, including in the protection of critical national infrastructure, mass transit systems and the security of major sporting events including the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games and the London 2012 Olympics. In addition, we have agreed to expand co-operation on civil aviation security and crisis management, and to establish a new bilateral dialogue on terrorist financing. Practical work is now being taken forward across the UK and Indian Governments. We expect to further strengthen this co-operation through a meeting of the Indo-UK Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism later this year.

Multilaterally, the UK and India remain committed to pursuing an agreement in the UN on the Comprehensive Convention against International Terrorism. The UK continues to support India’s request for full membership of the Financial Action Task Force.

Mr. Dismore
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what mechanisms are in place for co-operation with the Indian Government on intelligence relating to (a) the causes of and (b) the perpetrators of terrorism in India.

Bill Rammell
It is the long-standing policy of the Government not to comment on intelligence matters.

We value our co-operation with India across a range of counter-terrorism issues and we expect to further strengthen co-operation through a meeting of the Indo-UK Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism later this year.