By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, DEC 14, 2020: INDIA will never forget the cowardly attack on its Parliament, said Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi on the anniversary of the 2001 terror attack on the Parliament on Sunday.

"We will never forget the cowardly attack on our Parliament on this day in 2001. We recall the valour and sacrifice of those who lost their lives protecting our Parliament. India will always be thankful to them," he tweeted.

The 13 December attack saw five armed terrorists storm the Parliament complex and opening fire. Nine persons, including eight security personnel, died in the attack. All five terrorists were also shot dead.

President Mr Ram Nath Kovind also paid tribute to the martyrs in a tweet: "The nation gratefully remembers the brave martyrs who laid down their lives defending the Parliament on this day in 2001. While commemorating the great sacrifice of those defenders of the temple of our democracy, we strengthen our resolve to defeat the forces of terror."

Vice President Mr M. Venkaiah Naidu called terrorism a serious threat to democracy, individual freedoms and global economic advancement which are the core values of present day civilisation.

In a Facebook post, he said, "December 13 warns us of the horrific threats of terrorism, warns us of the dangers of terrorism against our democratic beliefs and our aspirations for economic growth."

Earlier in the day, the Vice President had paid floral tributes to the martyrs of the attack along with the Prime Minister, Lok Sabha Speaker and other senior ministers.

The Vice President wrote that the terror attack on the "temple of Indian democracy" by terrorists mentored and trained by "one of our neighbours" shook the whole world.

Observing that in the past two decades several such attacks of different degree were witnessed, including the World Trade Centre attack in September 2001, Mr Naidu cautioned that the only agenda of terror outfits is to disrupt the democratic and economic fabric of the world.

The state and non-state actors who prop up terrorism as an instrument of state policy for narrow ends should be isolated by the global community and made to behave, he said.

"India has been piloting the proposal for adoption of a UN Convention against Terrorism," Mr Naidu said, adding "While many countries from across different continents support India's voice in this regard, there are some who are oblivious to the larger threats of terrorism out of narrow geo-political and economic considerations."

Such nations should realise that in the end, everybody will end up a "loser" if the menace of terror is not rolled back through a united front, the vice president concluded.