Against a common foe
Hugo Rosemont is Policy Adviser (Security and Resilience) to the Society of British Aerospace Companies. He is the secretary to the UK Security and Resilience Industry Suppliers Community (RISC) International Group. In this exclusive column for Sify.com, he argues that both the UK and India face a serious threat to the rule of law, and given their inter-dependencies, they must work closely together to defeat terrorists.
Malicious, continuous acts of terrorism across the world have ensured that one by one, many of the world's major cities have become associated with devastating acts of violence. ''9/11", "7/7" and "26/11" - afflicting New York and Washington, London and Mumbai respectively - are just some of the most infamous examples.
The populations of these cities are proving to be remarkably resilient in the face of such attacks, but it is easy to list too many other recent atrocities. There is an ever-growing list of anniversaries in an expanding calendar of global terrorism.
The tactics that the terrorists deploy continue to surprise us. The attacks on Mumbai in November 2008 were audacious in their simplicity. The attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore in March 2009 was as straightforward as it was ruthless in its symbolism, and notable for its impunity.
Conventional wisdom holds that the onset of international terrorism is linked with - and to some extent a symptom of - the development of an increasingly interconnected world. There is a general consensus that no single government can tackle international terrorism on its own. Governments must cooperate as part of a global strategy in order to tackle the problem effectively.
While that may be true, to what extent must each nation improve its own domestic security arrangements to tackle terrorism that may have local roots?
Drawing on the experiences of the UK and India, I would like to argue that domestic security reform is no less important than international security collaboration in addressing the threat that terrorism poses to the world's major cities.
India and the UK must continue to be essential partners in the long fight against terrorism. They have much to learn from each other, and must share their significant expertise and capabilities.
Image: The burnt-out interior of a room of Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai after the terror attack. (Copyright AP. Any unauthorised reproduction is prohibited).
Also read: Mumbai terror attack | Interview: UK-India defence ties
