Science and Technology to Counter Terrorism: Proceedings of an Indo-US Workshop

These proceedings present the papers and summarize the discussions of a workshop held in Goa, India, in January 2004, organized under the aegis of the Indian National Institute of Advanced Science (NIAS) and the U.S. Committee on International Security and Arms Control (CISAC). NIAS is an independent research institute located on the campus of the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, and CISAC is a standing committee of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS). The two groups have had an ongoing bilateral dialogue since 1999. In four meetings held before the workshop, NIAS and CISAC addressed such subjects as the future of nuclear arms control, nuclear doctrine and operational practices for nuclear weapons, protection and accounting of nuclear explosive materials, Indian- U.S. cooperation in science and technology, and security developments in South Asia and other regions. From the early planning stages of this project, CISAC and NIAS searched for a workshop topic that could be explored in greater depth, a topic of relevance to scientists, experts, and the broader policy communities in India and the United States. In 2001 it was agreed that the topic of this workshop, how science and technology can be used to counter terrorism, was of great importance and great timeliness. By the 2003 planning meeting in Bangalore, terrorism had become an issue of central concern for the United States, as it had been in India for some time. Terrorism was an issue that deeply concerned both countries. Workshop organizers therefore decided to attempt something tangible as a next step in the NIAS-CISAC dialogue by seeking to meet three objectives during the joint event.