ISIS poses threat to Indian lives and interests
That and volatility in oil prices might not, however, be the most potent threat ISIS poses to far-off India. That ISIS is an outright sectarian extremist movement is beyond doubt. It has declared areas in Syria and Iraq it has captured as a caliphate — but its agenda isn't confined to that region alone.
It dreams of that caliphate extending to regions once under Muslim rule: including Spain and India. That alone should make New Delhi take notice. Add the sectarian angle, with the struggle between the larger Sunni revolt against discriminatory Baghdadrule being hijacked by ISIS, and what is happening in Syria and Iraq has the potential to cleave Muslim societies along sectarian, Shia vs Sunni, lines much farther afield.
Witness, though it might be just symbolic, declarations by some Shia organisations in India that thousands of volunteers have signed up to go to Iraq and battle ISIS. ISIS follows a pattern, seen in Pakistan and places in Africa, where the state has retreated or is weak, and militants move in and establish control and then use that territory to launch attacks elsewhere.
Iraq, with even the Kurds pressing for independence, seems like it might disintegrate. That might not happen, just as many Sunnis do not share ISIS' brutally sectarian agenda. But, for now, more strife is in the offing. New Delhi must, of course, help Indian citizens in the area, but it would be unwise to leave it at that, to presume events in Iraq can have no repercussions in India and the South Asian region.
Sunni-Shia tensions already fray peace and stability in Pakistan. Their fallout in the shape of heightened radicalisation can spill over beyond borders and draw in followers of other faiths as well. Some South Asian diplomacy, in addition to precautionary steps involving community leaders, would be in order.
Source http://economictimes.com/opinion/editorial/isis-poses-threat-to-indian-lives-and-interests/articleshow/37799310.cms
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