The Tarkash exercise occurs between the National Security Guard (NSG) and US Special Operations Forces (SOF). As chemical and biological weapons are recognised as a looming threat to the world, the current joint Indo-US exercise includes the “Response to Biochemical, Radioactive and Nuclear (CBRN) Terrorism” exercise for the first time.
The objective of the exercise is to rescue the hostages safely, neutralise the terrorists and deactivate the chemical weapons carried by the terrorists. The exercise involved:
- Landing a handful of Air Force helicopters in a target area.
- Successfully intervening with a large audience.
- Rescuing hostages.
- Neutralising chemical weapons.
Chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear defence
Chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defence is a protective measure in situations where biological, radioactive, chemical or nuclear warfare hazards may be present. These are known as weapons of mass destruction as it is intended to harm many people. This also applies to chemical weapons precursors and facilities, i.e., equipment or compounds, that can be used to develop or deploy WMD, CBRN weapons or CBRN devices.
National Security Guard
Commonly known as Black Cats, the National Security Guard (NSG) is a counterterrorism unit of India which comes under the Ministry of Home Affairs. It was founded while following Operation Blue Star, on October 16, 1984, with the view of combating terrorist activities and protecting states against internal disturbances. It was formalised in the Parliament of India under the National Security Guard Act 1986.
The NSG is a “federal emergency deployment force” designed to combat all aspects of domestic terrorism. As a special counterterrorism unit, it is intended for use “only under exceptional circumstances” and not to perform “functions of a state police or other paramilitary organisation.”
NSGs are trained to perform counterterrorism missions, including responding to abduction on land, at sea and in the air bomb disposal (IED search, detection and disposal), post-bomb investigation (PBI) and hostage rescue missions.
International conventions and treaties relating to terrorism
- Hague Convention for the Unlawful Seizure of aircraft, 1970
- Tokyo Convention on Offenses and Certain other acts, 1963
- Convention Against the Taking of Hostages, 1979
- Montreal Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation, 1971
- Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Internationally Protected Persons, 1973
- Protocol for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts of Violence at Airports Serving International Civil Aviation, 1988
- Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material, 1979
- Rome Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation, 1988
- Protocol for the suppression of illegal acts for the safety of fixed platforms on the continental shelf, 1988
- Convention of the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings, 1997
- Convention on the Marking of Plastic Explosives for Detection, 1991
- Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, 1999
