Global Terrorism Index (GTI), 2019: India ranks seventh worst terrorism affected country

Global Terrorism Index (GTI), 2019: India ranks seventh worst terrorism affected country

Part of: GS Prelims and GS-II – Terrorism

In News:

• India is ranked as seventh worst terrorism affected country in Global Terrorism Index (GTI) 2019 report. 
• India is even worse affected than other conflict-ridden countries like Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, Sudan, Burkina Faso, Palestine and Lebanon.
• Meanwhile, India’s think tank, NITI Aayog has questioned the methodology adopted by the report. 

Key takeaways:

• Deaths from terrorism fell for the fourth consecutive year, after peaking in 2014.
• Afghanistan has replaced Iraq as the most affected country by terrorism.

• India has moved to the seventh position from the previous year’s eighth in the annual Global Terrorism Index (GTI) 2019.

• Other countries ahead of India are:
  • Afghanistan (most affected) 
  • Iraq
  • Nigeria
  • Syria
  • Pakistan
  • Somalia

Important value additions:

The Global Terrorism Index (GTI) 

• It is a report published annually by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), a global think tank 
• It is headquartered in Sydney, Australia.
• The index provides a comprehensive summary of the key global trends and patterns in terrorism since 2000. 
• GTI scores are directly used in the Global Peace Index, the Global Slavery Report,
• It is also indirectly used in reports of World Economic Forum’s Travel and Tourism Competitiveness and Global Competitiveness Indices and compilation of Safe Cities Index by the Economist Intelligence Unit.