By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The Narendra Modi government is committed to eradicating terrorism, left-wing extremism and insurgency in the next five years, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Monday. Delivering the 32nd Endowment Lecture of the Intelligence Bureau, he also asked security agencies to accord special focus to securing the country’s land and maritime borders, which he listed as challenges in the coming years in achieving India’s dream of becoming a $5 trillion dollar economy.

Calling IB the “brain” of the national security apparatus, Shah lauded the agency for ably tackling the challenges of national security, including busting of terror modules, in the last five years and tackling insurgency in the Northeast “very effectively” over the years.

Talking of national security challenges in the coming years, Shah said encouragement is needed for personnel to identify solutions to these challenges and look for new ways to counter them, and also asked them to change their approach to be more effective.

An official statement read the Home Minister “saluted the IB personnel, who work tirelessly and anonymously for national security”, and underscored their contribution in helping the country emerge stronger.

Shah also said the IB has always helped to ensure zero tolerance to terrorism and Naxalism. In this context, he pointed to the interlinked challenges of human and weapons trafficking, cross-border infiltration, fake Indian currency notes, hawala transactions, drug trafficking as well as cyber threats.

Time-bound strategy must

Shah stressed the need for coordination between different security and intelligence agencies; he called for sharper intelligence analysis and time-bound strategy to deal with challenges.