Capture of LeT operatives in Bangladesh

ONE may look at the recent arrests of people alleged to belong to the Lashkar-e-Taiyeba, which is based in Pakistan, as both a cause to be wary as well as a matter to take a degree of relief from. Reportedly, these terrorists were planning to conduct attacks on the US and Indian embassies in Dhaka, in tandem with attacks on several Indian cities, to mark the one-year of the Mumbai attacks
The redeeming feature of the matter is that these arrests are a consequence of quick exchange of actionable intelligence which allowed our law enforcing agencies to act in a proactive manner. Arrest of the LeT men from Chittagong on 4th Nov is a sequel to arrests of two Lashkar leaders a fortnight ago in the USA who are believed to be the mastermind behind the attack in Mumbai last year.
The latest arrest in Dhaka follows from the Chittagong arrest. No doubt this has been an outcome of effective international and regional collaboration in counter terror operation. We feel that this must be strengthened and institutionalised further, at the regional level, for South Asia to be able to combat the phenomenon effectively.
Reportedly, there are a few more that are linked to transnational terrorist groups yet to be netted in. They must be apprehended before they are able to perpetrate their designs on our soil, or for that matter anywhere in the region.
In the recent past several foreigners, alleged to be linked to transnational organisations, were hauled up in Bangladesh, and some of them had been living in this country for many years, apparently without any hindrance at all. It should be abundantly clear to even the casual observer that there is a dangerous nexus between some of the terrorist organisation within the region, and that is only to be expected. It is an inescapable reality that terrorism has acquired a transnational character with both organic and ideological linkages; and the reality that the South Asian countries are not all sufficiently equipped in equal measure to deal with the problem effectively must not be lost on us.
That being the case, there is a strong rationale, not only for the countries of the region to develop their individual counter terror capability but also for an efficient regional mechanism. This is reinforced even more by what the countries of South Asia, particularly, Pakistan India and Bangladesh, have had to experience in the recent past. There are existing instruments within SAARC that can be put to use immediately, something that, regrettably, South Asia has been unable to do so far.