Analyzing Russia’s Decisive Interception Of An Anti-Indian Terrorist
Plenty remains to be known about the details of this decisive operation but observers can still intuit some relevant insight by reading between the lines.
The FSB announced on Monday that it intercepted an anti-Indian terrorist that transited through Russia en route to that South Asian state. According to RT, the suspect is of Central Asian origin, was recruited by ISIS while in Turkey sometime between April and June of this year, and planned to blow himself up in a suicide attack against an unnamed senior Indian politician who allegedly insulted the Prophet Mohammed. This dramatic development says a lot about Russia’s anti-terrorist commitments.
Plenty remains to be known about the details of this decisive operation but observers can still intuit some relevant insight by reading between the lines. First, Russian intelligence keeps close tabs on suspected terrorists from the former Soviet Union no matter where in the world they may be. This is due to concerns from as far back as the start of the Hybrid War of Terror on Syria over a decade ago that these foreign jihadists will return to their homelands, destabilize them, and thus endanger Russia too.
Second, Turkey is well known to Russian intelligence as being one of the top countries where ISIS recruits new members and also has them transit on the way to their eventual targets elsewhere in the world. While it remains unclear whether Ankara assisted in Moscow’s latest anti-terrorist operation, it wouldn’t be surprising if that Eurasian Great Power has its own anti-terrorist sources there who might have tipped them off about the suspect’s planned transit through their territory.
Third, India is Russia’s special and privileged strategic partner with whom it closely cooperates on all matters of mutual interest, especially those related to the security domain. That South Asian state’s National Security Advisor was just in Moscow last week, during which time he might have shared whatever information India possibly had about this terrorist’s impending plans. Even if that wasn’t what happened, Russia still takes immense pride in helping to protect India from all manner of threats.
Fourth, the detained terrorist plotted to kill a senior Indian politician because their target allegedly insulted the Prophet Mohammed. Despite President Putin considering all insults against that religious figure as a violation of religious freedom and not the perpetrator’s freedom of speech like Western leaders do, his security services will never turn a blind eye to those who threaten to harm others who’ve offended them in such a way. Terrorism can never be justified and is always unacceptable.
And finally, the last piece of insight to be gleaned from this development is that Russia is the literal opposite of the so-called “state sponsor of terrorism” that some in the West are demanding that it officially be designated as but which the US has thus far to its credit refused to do. Far from supporting terrorism, its security services just decisively intervened to stop its international manifestation thereof and thus saved innocent Indian lives, which its strategic partner will forever appreciate.
To wrap it all up, terrorism remains an international scourge that requires close multilateral cooperation in order to resolutely root out once and for all. Russia can only do so much in this respect on its own, hence why it’s the need of the hour for the international community to come together in putting aside whatever differences its members may have so as to join forces against this universal evil. The first step to this noble end, however, is for the West to recognize Russia’s sincere anti-terrorist commitments.