Political will required to fight terror: Modi writes to PM

27 Nov 2008, 1631 hrs IST, PTI AHMEDABAD: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi today wrote a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh saying political will and national resolve were required to root out terrorism, a day after Mumbai was rocked by terror attacks that have left around 100 dead. “There is a need to exhibit political will and national resolve to fight against terrorists who have put the internal security of the country in jeopardy,” he said in the letter. “The time is ripe to chalk out a coordinated strategy to maintain internal security by cooperation between all Central and state agencies,” he said. “I request the Prime Minister to call a meeting of all the Chief Ministers to firm up a coordinated strategy to root out terrorism from the country,” he further said. Referring to the Mumbai strikes, Modi said this is for the first time that sea route has been used by terrorists. “The terrorists are targeting our economic establishments which is a proxy war unleashed by our enemies.” Modi requested the Prime Minister to also call a separate meeting of western coastal states, especially those near Pakistan, with Indian Navy and Coast Guard to devise a strategy to counter terror coming from the sea. The Gujarat CM, in the letter, has described the Mumbai strikes as “an attack on the faith of people of India”.