India calls for greater int'l cooperation to fight synthetic drug trade used by terrorists

New York, Sep 25 (IANS) India has called for increasing international cooperation to fight the synthetic drug trade which has been used by terrorists against the country.

External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar on Tuesday emphasised the need for enhanced operational cooperation, intelligence sharing, and stronger law enforcement collaboration to combat the synthetic drug trade.

He was speaking at the Summit of the Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drug Threats that was hosted by US President Joe Biden.

India has long been affected by the nexus between terrorist groups and narco-trafficking, EAM Jaishankar said.

Cross-border rackets smuggle drugs into India and the proceeds are used to support terrorism, he said.

Biden said that fighting synthetic drugs "is a global challenge and requires global solutions".

Drug manufacturers and traffickers "continue to fuel violence, corruption, and instability", he said.

"We cannot let drug manufacturers and cartels continue to adapt their practices, develop new chemicals move fast to evade our efforts; we have to move faster," he said, adding: "We've got to cut them off."

Synthetic drugs include fentanyl, methamphetamine, captagon, and MDMA, which are often more potent – and more lethal – than plant-based drugs like cocaine or heroin, according to the coalition.

They can be made anywhere with widely available chemicals and equipment, it said, and the chemicals used for it are known as precursor chemicals.

EAM Jaishankar said that India, as co-chair of 'Working Group 1' India has taken a proactive stance and has focused on preventing the illicit manufacture and trafficking of synthetic drugs.

India and the US have deepened their cooperation against drugs he said, pointing to the memorandum of understanding on the US-India Drug Policy Framework for the 21st Century reached last week in Wilmington, Delaware, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with President Joe Biden.

The Counter Narcotics Working Group of the two countries has met four times, he said.

The factsheet released after the meeting between Prime Minister Modi and President Biden stated that they "signalled their commitment to the objectives of the Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drugs Threats and work towards combatting the threat of synthetic drugs and their precursors through mutually agreed initiatives to promote public health through coordinated actions".

--IANS

al/sha