India-EU brainstorm on preventing & countering violent extremism

The European Union (EU) on Wednesday convened a technical workshop on preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE) in New Delhi, held on the sidelines of the Raisina Dialogue. Opened by EU Ambassador to India Hervé Delphin, the workshop was organized in cooperation with the Embassy of the Netherlands.

The event bought together counterterrorism experts and senior representatives from EU and Indian security agencies and policy institutions, to exchange best practices on prevention, de-radicalisation, and rehabilitation of violent extremists. The EU Delegation included security practitioners from European Union institutions, EU Member States (Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, the Netherlands), and the Strong Cities Network (SCN), in Team Europe spirit.

Discussions centered on whole-of-government approaches, risk evaluation processes, exit programs, and reintegration strategies. Participants agreed on the importance and need for continued collaboration on both soft and hard security aspects of counterterrorism.

Maciej Stadejek, Director for Security and Defence Policy in the European External Action Service, said: "This workshop is a testament to the deepening EU-India partnership in counterterrorism and security cooperation. By sharing expertise and fostering dialogue, we are strengthening our collective ability to prevent and counter violent extremism while upholding democratic values and human rights." “We hope that by sharing EU approaches to deradicalisation, risk assessment and prevention strategies, we can reinforce our commitment to collaborating with India on counterterrorism and the prevention of violent extremism,” he added.

Dinkar Gupta, Former Director General of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), said: "India and the EU face evolving security threats that require innovative and collaborative solutions. Learning from each other’s experiences will help us build more effective strategies for deradicalisation, rehabilitation, and long-term prevention."

This workshop follows the recent College of Commissioners visit to India, where Indian PM Narendra Modi and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen underscored in their Leaders’ Statement the need for deeper collaboration in counterterrorism and strengthening international cooperation to combat terrorism and terrorism financing in a comprehensive and sustained manner. Both sides also committed to exploring a security and defence partnership.

The workshop, aligns with the EU's Indo-Pacific Strategy and builds upon ongoing EU India counterterrorism engagement under the EU project ESIWA+ (Enhancing the EU’s Security Cooperation In and With Asia & the Indo-Pacific), including a chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) risk management training for Indian security practitioners, countering online terrorism, and drone terrorism.

In February 2022, the EU and India held their first joint workshop on terrorism content online, building on the Counterterrorism Dialogue initiated in November 2020. This online workshop addressed the pressing issue of terrorist exploitation of the internet, while exploring innovative prevention campaigns and interventions. Since then, the EU-India Counterterrorism Dialogue has continued to prioritise the regulation of terrorist content online, elevating it to one of the top two main priorities during the March 2022 discussion. This critical topic was revisited and further explored during the 2024 EU India Counterterrorism Dialogue, demonstrating the shared commitment of both regions to addressing this evolving threat. This was again in focus at the recently concluded College of Commissioners visit to India.