PM asks CMs to set aside differences to counter terror

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday urged the chief ministers to set aside their political and ideological divides and collectively fight terrorism, communal violence and Left-wing extremism.

Unity needed: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar (L) and Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh attend the conference on internal security yesterday. Pic/AFP

"I also believe that time has now come to view the challenges of terrorism, communal violence and Left-wing extremism in a holistic manner," the prime minister said at the Chief Ministers' Conference on internal security here.

"I think each one of us needs to be completely objective in our approach to these issues, acting in national interest, rising above narrow political and ideological divides," he said.

He said capacity building and modernisation of police forces were essential for meeting the emerging challenges to internal security.

"I would appeal to all political parties and all sections of society to work together to find effective ways and means of meeting these grave challenges," the prime minister told the chief ministers.

Manmohan Singh asked the conference to "explore how we can achieve even better coordination between the centre and states".

Having underlined need for collective assault on the extremism of all hues, the prime minister stressed on the indispensability of modernisation of police forces.

"Capacity building and modernisation of state police forces are absolutely essential for meeting the emerging challenges to internal security, which range from terrorism to urban policing," the prime minister said, adding that the centre remained committed to supporting states on the issue.

The conference was told that the scheme for modernisation of police forces has been extended for five years with a total outlay of about Rs 12,000 crore.

An amount of Rs 433 crore has been additionally provided for mega city policing in the six cities of Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad.u00a0