Strategies for Countering Non State Actors in South Asia

The current paradigm of violence in South Asia is based on militancy and strategic terrorism drawing from extremist ideologies, be it religion, ethnicity or sub nationalism across the region. While frequently fundamentalism is said to be the core of conflict in South Asia, there are many diverse threads to instability. The arc of insecurity and intensity of violence is extending each day, manifesting in different forms, be it Mumbai 26/11, Lahore 3/3, Marriott bomb attacks or air borne suicide strike in the heart of the capital Colombo. This book attempts to examine the overall threat emanating from non state actors in South Asia, with particular reference to India and suggest a joint framework to neutralise the same. The book examines contemporary and future security environment in South Asia and the threats and challenges. The phenomenon of Non State actors has been examined in detail to include armed Groups as Al-Qaeda, Lashkar e Tayyaba, Jaish e Mohammed, as well as Naxalites in the hinterland. Each facet of these to include Leadership Structure, Organisation, Political, Military, Judicial functions, Religious, Funding, Charity and aid arm, Media and Networking with other non state actors has been covered in detail.