Terror can't be used to achieve means: Doval

India on Tuesday blamed Pakistan for the deadlock on negotiation over Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism at the United Nations, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval articulating the  BJP-led government’s concerns over terror emanating from its western neighbour.

Enunciating the government’s security concerns for the first time after taking over as National Security Advisor in May, Doval said that India was keen to make sure that its economic growth had a spillover effect on its neighbours too and was ready to resolve conflicts through dialogue. “But, at the same time, India would like to have an effective deterrence capability that is credible, that is seen and known by people. India cannot be taken for granted and its legitimate rights cannot be trampled upon,” he said.

He said that India wanted to be “an instrument for stability in the region, rather than a cause for conflict”.

Doval, a former director of the Intelligence Bureau, was delivering the keynote address at the core group meeting of the Munich Security Conference in New Delhi on Tuesday.

Expressing concerns over recent developments in West Asia, he said that although 13 years had passed since a war against international terrorism had been launched in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the US, the global menace had not only turned “much more intense and expanded”, but also “engulfed new areas” and acquired “mind-boggling” capability.

Though individual countries made substantial progress on domestic fronts to sharpen their counter-terrorism capability over the past 13 years, not much could be achieved internationally.

Doval cited the instance of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism, which India had proposed for adoption by the United Nations in 1996. He said that the negotiation over the proposed convention at the UN was stalled due to differences over definition of terrorism.

Pakistan wanted so-called “freedom fighters” to be excluded from the definition of terrorism, although India and many other nations believed that whatever might be the cause or objective, use of terror as a means to achieve an end could not be accepted, he said.

The NSA’s criticism against Pakistan came at a time when the neighbouring country renewed its effort to internationalise its dispute with India over Kashmir and blamed the Indian Army for the recent spurt in fire-exchanges along the Line of Control as well as the undisputed stretch along the bilateral border – not only at the UN, but also at other international forums.