India invites UNSC members for special meeting of Counter-Terrorism Committee in Oct

United Nations: India has invited all members of the UN Security Council for a high-level special meeting of the Counter-Terrorism Committee in New Delhi and Mumbai in October aimed at highlighting the increase in the use of new technologies by terrorists and exploring the course of action to effectively deal with this threat.

India is currently Chair of the Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee for the year 2022 and will host diplomats of the 15-nation UN body, including the US, China and Russia, in October for a special meeting on counter-terrorism.

"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," India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj said on Tuesday.

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, she underlined.

Speaking at the UN Security Council briefing on ‘Threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts’ chaired by permanent-member and Council President for the month of China, Kamboj said there is a need for intense discussions on this subject.

She told the Council that India, as the Chair of the Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) will be hosting a special CTC session in Mumbai and Delhi on October 28-29, “highlighting the nature of this threat, member states’ capacity gaps and best practices and exploring the further course of action to effectively deal with this threat”.

Kamboj said the high-level meeting will be in-person and she invited all Council colleagues to participate in the meeting, saying formal invitations will be issued by the CTC Chair later this month.

Earlier speaking at the UNSC meeting, Acting Executive Director of the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate Weixiong Chen said the forthcoming special meeting of the CTC on the use of emerging technologies for terrorist purposes will be held in October 2022 in New Delhi and Mumbai.

Chen said “it is my hope that this event will serve” as a forum to “further enhance and strengthen our multilateral and multi-dimensional counterterrorism efforts”.

India is halfway through the second year of its two-year term as an elected non-permanent member of the 15-nation UN Security Council. India's tenure at the Council will end in December when the country will also preside as President of the powerful UN organ for the month.

Current members of the Security Council are Albania, Brazil, Gabon, Ghana, India, Ireland, Kenya, Mexico, Norway and UAE, along with five permanent members China, France, Russia, UK and the US.

Kamboj further underlined the need for 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,” she said, in a reference to Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan describing slain Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden as a martyr.

“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,” she said.

Kamboj also underlined the need to support capacity-building efforts of the UN Office for Counterterrorism and enhance its autonomy.

India has been supporting these efforts by providing financial support and resources for the OCT’s programs 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,” she said.