Millennium Development Goals and Combating Terrorism in India and Pakistan:

The Link of Poverty to Terrorism

Many proponents believed that the issue of poverty and terrorism are interconnected,
especially in the South Asia region where these two conditions are very rampant and observable
in the society. We must know that there are numerous situations of terroristic attacks in these
region, and to name a few, there is the Mumbai Bombing on November 2008, bombing of the
Mariott Hotel in Islamabad on September 2008 and the 2008 Jaipur Bombing, which had
caused lives and grabbed the attention of the international community. Despite all of these,
there have been efforts to combat the causes of terrorism and violence in the region, and one of
those is to solve the problems of poverty, which is also part of the known Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) India and Pakistan has been working on since 2000. In this paper, I
will be discussing the link of poverty and terrorism, and how the Millennium Development Goals
have helped in crafting a solution in this worldwide problem.

Situation of Terrorism in India and Pakistan

India and Pakistan are known to be the countries to have the most number of terrorist
groups in the world. According to Piazza (2006), India and Pakistan are included in the top ten
countries for terrorist incidents from 1986-2002, India raking first with 237 and Pakistan ranking
ninth with 40. In the List of Foreign Terrorist Organizations released by the United States
Government, there are four major terrorist groups in Pakistan and one in India which are proven
to be threatening, not only India and Pakistan, but also the United States and the world. (U.S.
Department of State, 2012). Aside from these recognized groups by the international
community, there are still a great number of terrorist groups that have spread throughout India,
Pakistan and the rest of the South Asia Region.

Situation of Poverty in India and Pakistan

Just like other Asian and South Asian countries, India and Pakistan are not spared of the
problems of poverty and underdevelopment. According to a UN Report released in 2011,
despite the rapid economic growth of India, 41.6% of India’s population earned less than 78
pence a day while in Pakistan, the figure shows 22.6% of its population. In addition, in the
multidimensional poverty index which includes measures of schooling, child mortality, nutrition,
access to electricity, toilets, drinking water and hygienic conditions, 53.7% of Indians suffer in
this kind of poverty while 49.7% for the Pakistanis (UN as cited in Nelson, 2011)
 It can be seen that poverty and underdevelopment of all aspects are indeed one of the
major problems of India and Pakistan, aside from terrorism and political violence that are
widespread in the region.

Link between Poverty and Terrorism

At the March 2002 World Development Summit held at Monterrey, Mexico, former US
President George W. Bush, former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, former head of the World
Trade Organization Michael Moore and other leaders declared that the fight against poverty was
intrinsically linked to the fight against terrorism [ CITATION vonnd \l 1033 ]. Michael Moore even
quoted that “Poverty in all its forms is the greatest single threat to peace, security, democracy,
human rights and the environment”, proving that there is indeed a link between the situation of
poverty and the increasing influence of terrorist groups in the world today.

If we could notice, most terrorist activities are found in those areas with problems of
poverty as compared to the developed nations. Let’s say for example, rarely you could find
terrorist groups or terroristic activities in the Scandinavian Region of Europe as compared to the
South Asia region. We could see that the level of development and greater standard of living
could actually equate to a more peaceful environment. To quote with, the former President of
the UN General Assembly, Han Seung-Soo, identified that the world’s poorest countries can be
a “breeding ground for violence and despair”, and India and Pakistan are no exception. (Poverty
"fuelling terrorism", 2002)

Most of the world leaders even agreed that “defeating poverty would thwart a major
driving force behind international terrorism” (Poverty "fuelling terrorism", 2002). In addition to
that, the US Department of State (2003) as cited in Blair, Fair, Malhotra, & Shapiro (2012)
believed that the “underlying conditions such as poverty, corruption, religious conflict and ethnic
strife create opportunities for terrorists to exploit…” As what Khan (2002) said, “Poverty can
lead to terrorism very simply because of the lack of options presented to the terrorists. If
someone has nothing to lose because that person can claim nothing but ideas, then it is easy to
stand up and fight. However, give that person a home, land, and education, the ideals may still
remain, but the means by which the person will fight for them will change.” This may be true and
proves that indeed, lack of access to the basic needs and the problems of poverty may have
contributed to the rise of terrorism. Therefore, by combating poverty means to combat terrorism
at the same time, and through global partnerships for development, this problem could be given
solutions. Though it will only touch one reason of terrorism and may not be absolute, still, by
combating one problem that prevails in terrorism could have a dramatic effect when it comes to
development.

Role of the Millennium Development Goals

Millennium Development Goal 1- Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger

As discussed earlier, poverty may have caused terrorism, or is a big factor in making it
possible. Many proponents in this region have believed that in order to solve the problem, their
country should have special attention in addressing poverty.

The poverty rate in India and Pakistan has lessened in the past years. In fact, according
to a UN Report released last July 2013, India is on its track to meet the MDG for poverty
reduction by 2015. Though many people are still suffering from poverty in the country, the
significant decline of 49% in 1994 to 42% in 2005 to 33% in 2010 have proven that the country
had fared well in its battle against the poverty. It may not be perfect, but still, that improvement
can still be considered as an achievement. In the case of Pakistan, however, is different for the
country is not getting any closer in achieving its goals for this MDG. This failure is a result of the
global economic crisis that increased the food and fuel prices combined with widespread
corruption (Soomro, 2010). Many experts agreed with this as they believed that the situation of
poverty is worsened because of the “food inflation” and this may be dangerous, especially in the
situation of terrorism in the country for it can fuel more hungry people to resort to terroristic acts
(“Millennium Development Goals: Pakistan nowhere near reaching MDGs, say experts”, 2013)

It is notable for both nations that they have addressed the problems of poverty and
hunger in their country. However, there are no exact data on how much the frequency of terrorist
attacks have declined in relation to combating poverty in the region. With the relation of poverty
and terrorism, as discussed, it can be safe to say that in a way, the problems of poverty in
relation to terrorism may have significant effect on the frequency of terroristic activities.

Millennium Development Goal 8- Develop a Global Partnership for Development

The Eighth MDG, which is to develop a global partnership for development, have played
a key role in combating terrorism in India and Pakistan. This goal gives the developed nations a
chance to help the problematic nations to solve both their internal and external problems that
could impede development, and one of this is terrorism.

Last 2002 World Development Summit, former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan urged
the industrialized countries to double their assistance to the developing countries and set a
quota of US$100 billion a year to combat the global poverty by 2015. (Poverty "fuelling
terrorism", 2002). Some of the countries that have pledged to “do what it takes” to meet this
goal are Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

With regards to the aid given by the developed nations for combating terrorism, one
example of it was the $1.6 billion military and economic assistance given by the United States to
Pakistan last 2013 [ CITATION Fox131 \l 1033 ]. This assistance aims to combat the terrorism
activities in the region and help the nations to be more developed and alleviate the problems of
poverty and terrorism in the region. In a way, this assistance is a way for both countries to
restart their disintegrated relations after some issues brought by covert raid of Osama Bin
Laden and airstrikes against Pakistani Soldiers.

This goal does not focus mainly on military and economic aid given by the developed
countries to achieve development by combating poverty and terrorism. It may also be in forms
of partnerships and cooperations of countries to address such problem and one example of it is
the US-India Counterterrorism Operations which aims to secure the countries from threats of
violence and terrorism (Latif, 2011). In that way, it could still be of great help to India in solving
its problems with regards to terrorism and poverty.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Millennium Development Goals may have contributed to the alleviation
of the situation of poverty, which can be linked as one of the causes of terrorism. By addressing
this problem, it could be one of great help for India and Pakistan to achieve development, and to
give a halt to their long-time enemy, which is terrorism. However, it should be taken into
consideration that poverty alone is the root cause of terrorism. In fact, it is just one of the
reasons. In order for the Indian and Pakistani Government to fully eradicate terrorism in their
respective countries, they should address other problems or causes of it.

In the near future, in case there would be another set of goals that all countries should
comply, the combating of terrorism should be included as this problem could also have a great
impact on the development of a nation. In case this would be addressed, then it is really
possible for one country to be developed and free from threats of terrorism.
REFERENCES:
Blair, G., Fair, C. C., Malhotra, N., & Shapiro, J. (2012). Poverty and Support for Militant Politics:
Evidence from Pakistan. Retrieved February 13, 2014, from
http://graemeblair.com/papers/pakistan.pdf

(2005). Fighting Poverty to Build a Safer World: A Strategy for Security and Development.
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Fox News. (2013, October 20). US quietly releasing $1.6B in Pakistan assistance. Retrieved
February 13, 2014, from Fox News Politics: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/10/20/us-
quietly-releasing-16b-in-pakistan-assistance/

Khan, A. (2002, September 9). Poverty and Terrorism. Retrieved February 12, 2014, from
YesPakistan.com: http://www.yespakistan.com/terrorism/poverty.asp

Latif, S. A. (2011). U.S.- India Counterterrorism Cooperation: Deepening the Partnership.

Washington D.C: Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Millennium Development Goals: Pakistan nowhere near reaching MDGs, say experts. (2013,
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http://tribune.com.pk/story/602600/millennium-development-goals-pakistan-nowhere-near-
reaching-mdgs-say-experts/

Nelson, D. (2011, November 3). Indian poverty levels higher than Pakistan's, says UN report.
Retrieved February 10, 2014, from The Telegraph:
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than-Pakistans-says-UN-report.html

Piazza, J. (2006). Rooted in Poverty?: Terrorism, Poor Economic Development and Social
Cleavages. Charlotte, NC: Taylor and Francis Group.

Poverty "fuelling terrorism". (2002, March 22). Retrieved February 10, 2014, from BBC News:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/1886617.stm

Reality of Aid. (2004). Millennium Development Goals. Retrieved February 12, 2013, from
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Soomro, K. (2010, July 12). Pakistan to miss Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015.
Retrieved February 13, 2014, from International Youth Council:
http://internationalyouthcouncil.com/profiles/blogs/pakistan-to-miss-millennium

U.S. Department of State. (2012, September 28). Foreign Terrorist Organizations. Retrieved
February 10, 2014, from U.S. Department of State:
http://www.state.gov/j/ct/rls/other/des/123085.htm

von Hippel, K. (n.d.). Debating Terrorism and Counterterrorism. Washington D.C.: CQ Press.
 MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS

AND COMBATING TERRORISM IN INDIA AND PAKISTAN:

The Link of Poverty to Terrorism

Submitted by:

Roy John V. Malaluan

ABIS-AMST 4

Submitted to:

Jose Anthony Laurent P. Octavio

AMS 421- Terrorism

February 12, 2014