External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj was responding to supplementaries during Question Hour
Fifty radicalised Indians have crossed over to the "other side", but the this has not taken dangerous proportions in the country, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said today in parliament. The issue of radicalisation is not limited to India but the entire world too, she added in the Lok Sabha.
Responding to supplementaries during the Question Hour, Ms Swaraj said 50 radicalised Indian youth have crossed over to the "other side" She, however, did not specify where they have gone.
The Union minister said the Centre has already launched an anti-radicalisation programme with states to ensure that the youths are not misled.
She credited the "Indian ethos and culture for the minimal damage radicalisation has caused" in India. She said secularism, the watchful eyes of parents and the belief that violence is not good, have helped the country.
Ms Swaraj told the House that India is set to host a conference of ASEAN nations on de-radicalisation but the venue has not yet been finalised.
Besides de-radicalisation, cross-border terrorism would be the other topic of the conference. Responding to a question, Ms Swaraj said South China Sea was not the subject of the proposed event.
She said the government would consider the "positive" suggestion of AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi that 'ulemas' or Muslim scholars of ASEAN countries should also be invited as they have successfully helped check radicalisation in their respective nations.