India, June 24 -- The commemoration of the bombing of Air India flight 182 jointly by India, Canada and Ireland for the first time on the 40th anniversary of the tragedy that claimed 329 lives is an important moment in recognising the international character of terrorism, and the need for a global response to the problem. It is significant that India sent a delegation to the event in Ireland led by Union minister Hardeep Puri, who emphasised the need for deeper cooperation with Canada to counter extremism and terrorism.

Over the past four decades, Canada largely treated what was the worst act of aviation terrorism till the 9/11 attacks in the US as an incident to be mourned by India, though a majority of the fliers were Canadian citizens...