NEW DELHI, July 20 - Following reports of rise in activities of the ISIS in Bangladesh, India on Wednesday said that it is closely and regularly monitoring the activities of terrorist organisations, including the ISIS, in the neighbouring countries.
The Government of India is taking all precautionary measures to ensure the safety and security of Indian officials and Indian communities in the neighbouring countries. Whenever necessary, information affecting India�s security interests abroad is duly shared with concerned local government authorities, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said in a Lok Sabha reply.
According to standard diplomatic norms and practices, also followed in other countries, the primary responsibility for ensuring the safety and security of Indian officials and institutions in these countries vests with the local government. Accordingly, regular channels of communication are being maintained with the governments of neighbouring countries.
The government is also regularly upgrading security arrangements at Indian embassies and consulates in close consultation and liaison with the concerned local government.
As reported by this newspaper, seven radical Islamic terrorists have entered India from Bangladesh last month giving security agencies the slip, through the partially fenced South Garo Hills sector of the international border.
An intelligence report said the seven terrorists have slipped into India through the riverine border in Maheskhola in South Garo Hills. Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma had told newsmen that security agencies are trying to locate the terrorists after learning they have entered India.
Intelligence sources said the seven terrorists crossed over to India from Bangladesh�s Mymensingh district. They crossed the river Kanai in the area.
One of the �leaders of the group� was carrying a map and was trying to find directions, the sources added. There is high alert along the international border with Bangladesh in the Meghalaya sector and elsewhere in the country. However, taking advantage of the river these terrorists crossed over, a senior intelligence officer had said.
Meanwhile, in a separate reply, Minister of State for External Affairs Gen Dr VK Singh (Retd) said that there have been a number of targeted attacks on bloggers, writers and professors, publishers and minorities in Bangladesh over the last year and a half.
