India offers Paris help to fight ISIS

India has offered to help France in fighting terror emanating from the dreaded ISIS terror outfit that unleashed mayhem in Paris and in ensuring that such assaults on humanity do not recur anywhere.

Attending an event at the French embassy here to mourn the victims of terror attacks in Paris on November 13, Union minister Kiren Rijiju said people of India are no strangers to the pain and suffering inflicted by such senseless acts of violence as the country has been a victim of terror for the last four decades, in an oblique reference to the horrific Mumbai terror siege.

“None of this, however, lessens our sense of outrage, grief and shock when they happen and wherever they happen — whether in India or anywhere else in the world,” he said.

Calling upon countries to unite in the fight against the growing terror threat, Mr Rijiju referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement at the G-20 summit at Turkey that time has come for the world to speak in one voice and act in unison against terrorism without any narrow considerations or specious selectivity in distinguishing between terrorist groups.

“We share your pain in this hour of tragedy and stand with you shoulder-to-shoulder, ready to assist the government and the people of France in facing this tragedy and in ensuring that such assaults on humanity do not recur anywhere,” he said while addressing the gathering.

“We must isolate those who support and sponsor terrorism and stand with those who share our values of humanism. Open democracies and pluralistic societies that value individual freedoms and liberties like ours are increasingly threatened by terror groups,” he said.

The minister said there was a need to significantly step up the cooperation in intelligence and disrupt all forms of support to terror groups, who are a common threat to the cherished values and to humanity itself.