New Delhi, Oct 12: Anti-terror professionals need to examine the unprecedented terror attacks in Israel on a scale and proportion that would never have been envisaged that terrorists could get under the radar of extremely sophisticated technological infrastructure and perpetrate the ghastly act, said Director General of National Security Guard (NSG) MA Ganapathy on Thursday.
He was speaking at the NSG raising day seminar with state special forces organised at DRDO Bhawan in Delhi.
The two-day seminar, focusing on ‘Sub-conventional threats: challenges and prospects for definite and enduring solutions,’ will conclude on Friday.
He outlined two key lessons for all anti-terrorism professionals participating in the seminar.
Director General Ganapathy underscored the importance of recognizing that, ultimately, it is the combination of the human element and the weaponry that makes the decisive difference in counterterrorism efforts.
“We need to have a framework of crisis management response at the national level for extreme terrorist scenarios. And two, that the reliance on technology while very imperative has to be complemented by highly skilled personnel who are at the pinnacle of the craft.
We all need to constantly invest in skill upgradation of our personnel who are the ultimate redeemers in a terror response mechanism,” he said.
“We should always remember this lesson that ultimately it’s the man and the weapon, which makes the final difference,” he added.
He further said that the intelligence agencies have the ever-present challenge of being one step ahead of the intentions and activities of terror groups, which continue to evolve as a result of support rendered externally or internally through an array of networks, technological exploitation, and opaque funding methods.
To comprehensively understand the entire spectrum of terror networks and choke out our future operational and training strategies. It is necessary for all the stakeholders to come together and respond collectively in a coordinated and synergized manner.
The objective of this seminar is to arrive at a deeper understanding of these challenges by sharing ideas and experiences as well as the innovations that will be required by the security forces to operate at the tactical level, he added.
He further said that the close interaction between heads of special forces of the states and union territories with the NSG will go a long way in furthering and refining our operational procedures, building synergy and filling the gaps in the integrated counterterrorism grid.
