India offers five-point suggestion for jointly combating terrorism

New Delhi: Indian Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj, Permanent Representative of India to the UN, in a hard-hitting statement on Tuesday said that India was surprised that UN Secretary General’s Report choose not to take notice of the activities of the several proscribed groups in this region, especially those that have been repeatedly targeting India.

In her presentation, Amb Ruchira stressed, “Selective filtering of inputs from member states is uncalled for. We do hope that in future iterations of SG’s reports, inputs from all member states would be treated on an equal footing.”

Ambassador said that “It is clear from the report of the Secretary-General under consideration that terrorist threats are on the rise globally. It is our considered conviction that terrorism in one part of the world is a threat to the peace and security of the entire world, and therefore, our response to this global challenge should be unified, coordinated and most importantly effective.“

“The linkages between groups listed by the UNSC such as the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and the Jaish-e-Mohammed as well as provocative statements made by other terrorist groups operating out of Afghanistan pose a direct threat to the peace and stability of the region. We, therefore, need to see concrete progress in ensuring that such proscribed terrorists, entities, or their aliases do not get any support, tacit or direct, from the terror sanctuaries, which also are based in the same region.”

While further elaborating on attacks on minorities in Afghanistan she said, “India’s immediate neighbourhood has also been witnessing to a spate of terror incidents recently.  The series of attacks at religious places of minority communities, including the recent attack at the Sikh Gurudwara on June 18 in Kabul followed by another bomb explosion near the same Gurudwara on 27 July is alarming.”

Amb Ruchira showing concern on the recent findings of the 1988 Sanctions Committee’s Monitoring Team’s Report points out that “significant increase in the presence of ISIL-K in Afghanistan and their capacity to carry out attacks. ISIL-K, with its base reportedly in Afghanistan, continues to issue threats of terrorist attacks on other countries.”

The ambassador also showed concern on the ISIL’s expansion in Africa that deserves the full attention of the international community to ensure that this “threat is not seen in isolation, as these have the potential to spill over to other parts of the world as well.”

India’s suggestions

While reminding the council of last year’s Indian Foreign Ministers series of suggestions on jointly combating terrorism, the Ambassador offered following observations:

One, the growing use of the Internet and social media platforms to spread terrorist and violent extremist propaganda has posed challenges to Governments and the tech industry alike. The continued increase in the use of new technologies to move and store funds, including virtual assets, online exchanges and wallets, privacy coins (EACs) and potential misuse of dual use technologies pose the risk that terrorists will seek to abuse these systems for terrorism-financing and other terror-linked purposes. There is, therefore, a need for intense discussion on this subject.

While inviting Council colleagues to participate at the CTC meeting to be hosted by India later, Ambassador informed that India as the Chair of the CTC will be hosting a Special session in Mumbai and Delhi on 28-29 October this year, highlighting the nature of this threat, member states’ capacity gaps and best practices, and exploring further course of action to effectively deal with this threat. The high-level meeting will be in-person, and I invite all. Formal invitations will be issued by the CTC Chair later this month.

Two, we need political will to defeat terrorism. There can be no justification for terrorist acts, much less glorification of terrorists, a tendency we have unfortunately seen in recent years in some parts of the world. There should be no double standards in dealing with terrorists. We should refrain from labelling terrorism based on motivations, which will only allow opportunistic forces to provide justification for certain terror activities based on their convenience.

Three, an effective functioning of the Sanctions Committees requires them to become more transparent, accountable and objective. The practice of placing holds and blocks on listing requests without giving any justification must end. It is most regrettable that genuine and evidence-based listing proposals pertaining to some of the most notorious terrorists in the world are being placed on hold. Double standards and continuing politicization have rendered the credibility of the Sanctions Regime at an all-time low. We do hope that all members of the UNSC can pronounce together in one voice, sooner rather than later, when it comes to this collective fight against international terrorism.

Four, linkages between terrorism and organized crime need to be addressed. In India, we have had first-hand experience of crime syndicates venturing into terrorism and, immediately thereafter getting state hospitality in a neighbouring country despite being listed under the UNSC 1267 Sanctions Committee. Such hypocrisy needs to be collectively called out, when the threat of terrorism looms large in each of our countries.

Five, we need to support capacity-building efforts of the UN Office for Counter Terrorism and enhance its autonomy. India has been supporting these efforts by providing financial support and resources for the programs of the Office, aimed at countering terror financing and preventing terrorist movement. We reiterate our call for providing greater financial support and adequate resources to the UNOCT from the regular UN budget.