Press Releases 2004

Four Additional Indian Groups Included in Terrorist Lists

April 30, 2004

U.S. Says India is an Important Partner in the Global War on Terrorism

NEW DELHI -The United States has announced that four additional Indian groups have been added to lists of terrorist organizations. The Department of State report "Patterns of Global Terrorism" also highlights that India is an important partner for the United States in the Global War on Terrorism.

Two Indian "Naxalite" groups, the Maoist Communist Center of India (MCCI) and the People's War, have now been added to the list of Other Terrorist Groups. Two Sikh organizations, Babbar Khalsa International and the International Sikh Youth Federation, have been added to the Terrorist Exclusion List.

Remaining on the Department's lists are the following terrorist groups active in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K): Al-Badhr Mujahideen, Harkat-ul-Jihad-I-Islami (HUJI), Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), and Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen (JUM). The report also retains the Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO) Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM), Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM), and Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT), all of which are active in J&K.

Being listed as a terrorist group means that the State Department has identified the group as practicing, or it has significant subgroups that practice, international terrorism. If a group is listed on the Terrorist Exclusion List, the US has the ability to exclude its members or supporters from the United States or to deport them if they are found within United States borders. The US Government has employed this definition of terrorism for statistical and analytical purposes since 1983.

The report stresses that the Indian Government was steadfast in its desire to combat terrorism and worked closely with the United States in this regard. For example, several hundred Indian law enforcement officials participated in training as part of the Antiterrorism Assistance program. During the year, the Indian Government also moved to strengthen its international cooperation in curbing terrorism financing. In January 2003, the Parliament enacted an anti-money laundering law that provides the legal basis for establishing a financial intelligence unit to monitor suspect transactions.