India's ruling party unveils security agenda
India's ruling Congress Party trumpeted its anti-terrorism credentials Tuesday ahead of general elections, with Home Minister P. Chidambaram warning of a "ring of fire" surrounding the country.
"The security situation in South Asia has deteriorated very, very sharply," Chidambaram said, citing attacks and violence in neighbouring Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
"We are in the middle of a ring of fire," the minister told reporters at a briefing to release his party's national security manifesto.
Chidambaram was speaking the day after a series of bomb and grenade attacks in the northeastern state of Assam killed 10 people, despite intelligence warnings and heightened security.
"It is only the Congress that can deal with the scourge of terrorism squarely and decisively," he said.
The Congress-led government has come under strong criticism over perceived security failings surrounding the Mumbai attacks in November that left 165 people dead.
Chidambaram said that India's porous borders and "commitment to plurality" made it a target for militants in neighbouring countries.
He accused the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of politicising terrorism and said the country's level of preparedness was higher than five years ago but was still a "work in progress."
The Congress Party's security agenda highlights plans for a "war room" set-up to handle threats, and includes measures to create a coastal command for maritime security after revelations that the Mumbai gunmen travelled to the city on a hijacked trawler from the Pakistani city of Karachi.
The government in February announced new measures to deploy counter-terrorism forces belonging to the National Security Guard around the country instead of only in New Delhi.
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