A counter-radicalization workshop was held for law enforcement officials of the Member States of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) on 2-3 February 2023. The online workshop was organized by the Government of India in cooperation with the CICA Secretariat. The workshop brought together over 60 participants from 20 CICA Member States and the Secretariat.
Radicalization, which fuels terrorism, remains a serious threat to international peace and security. The workshop aimed at discussing national approaches of CICA countries to countering radicalization and sharing best practices and knowledge in this area.
One of the important topics of discussion was the phenomenon of social media and its misuse to spread terrorist propaganda and recruit foreign terrorist fighters. Terrorists use organized propaganda on the Internet, including social media, quite effectively as a means of ideological radicalization as well as covert communication. The law enforcement agencies of all countries need to respond to this new challenge in a timely and effective manner.
A significant part of the discussion focused on measures taken to prevent radicalization and address target groups and socially vulnerable segments of the population.
In general, the participants expressed the need for appropriate training of law enforcement officers to build capacity in this area and for the international exchange of best practices to jointly counter the existing threats of radicalization.
The workshop on counter-radicalization organized by the Bureau of Police Research and Development of the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Government of the Republic of India aroused great interest and positive responses among the participants of the event.
The Republic of India has taken the initiative to hold this workshop as the coordinator of the priority area of combating terrorism within the implementation of CICA confidence building measures, which was supported by all Member States.
