US move on Hizb chief to hit him hard: Home secretary

New Delhi: India feels that the US government’s decision to declare Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin a designated “global terrorist” would not only help check the flow of funds to his terrorist organisation but also restrict his movements. The Hizbul Mujahideen is the biggest terror group operating in the Kashmir Valley, with most of its operatives being local recruits.

Speaking on the sidelines of an event here on Tuesday, Union home secretary Rajiv Mehrishi said: “Salahuddin was a coward who had run away to Pakistan. The move will help choke his movements and financing... We have always maintained Salahuddin is a terrorist, and now he has been declared so. The US declaration naming him a designated global terrorist would impact his funding and movements.”

The US had earlier also declared Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed and underworld don Dawood Ibrahim as “global terrorists”.  Following this move, all US citizens are prohibited from having any financial dealings with Salahuddin and all his assets, including property, will now be blocked.

India has already welcomed the US announcement, and said it reiterates the fact that both countries were dealing with the increasing threat of global terrorism. Reacting to the US declaration, foreign secretary S. Jaishankar said in Washington: “The move shows the US is committed to ending terror in all forms and is a strong signal. We should take the step for what it is. It fixes responsibility, highlighting the problem. There is a signalling out of it, it is focusing on a particular group and a particular individual. None of us can really miss that message.”

The US state department’s announcement came just hours before the first meeting between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House on Monday.