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NEW DELHI: Taking a thinly-veiled potshot at Pakistan at the UN Security Council counter-terrorism committee meeting in New Delhi on Saturday, where he referred to terrorism as “one of the gravest threats to humanity,” external affairs minister Dr S. Jaishankar said the sanctions regime architecture “has been very effective in putting those countries on notice that had turned terrorism into a state-funded enterprise”.
He announced that India would contribute half-a-million dollars to the UN Trust Fund for Counter Terrorism this year, to augment the efforts of UN Office of Counter Terrorism (UNOCT) in providing capacity building support to member states in preventing and countering the threat of terrorism.”
Highlighting the increasing global use of technologies such as drones by terrorists, the EAM said “these terrorist groups have been using unmanned aerial platforms, such as drones and quadcopters for cross border trafficking of drugs and arms and for carrying out terrorist attacks” even as he pointed to the Mumbai terror attacks 14 years ago where even “a benign technology of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) could be used for organising and directing such a barbaric terrorist attack from beyond our borders”.
Pointing out that “the possibilities of using weaponised drones for terrorist purposes against strategic, infrastructure and commercial assets call for serious attention by the Member States,” the EAM said, “Internet and social media platforms have turned into potent instruments in the toolkit of terrorist and militant groups for spreading propaganda, radicalisation and conspiracy theories aimed at destabilising societies.”
British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (foreign minister) James Cleverly—currently on a visit to Delhi who also participated and spoke at the UNSC meeting in the Capital—drew attention to the growing use of drones and other advanced technologies by terrorists, even as he called for starving terrorists of finances.
The EAM meanwhile said, “Terrorism remains one of the gravest threats to humanity. The UN Security Council, in the past two decades, has evolved an important architecture, built primarily around the counter terrorism sanctions regime, to combat this menace. This has been very effective in putting those countries on notice that had turned terrorism into a State-funded enterprise. Despite this, the threat of terrorism is only growing and expanding, particularly in Asia and Africa, as successive reports of the 1267 Sanctions Committee Monitoring Reports have highlighted.”
Pointing out that “this is the first time that the UN Security Council is holding a meeting, in any format, in India”, Mr. Jaishankar said, “That the Council is holding this Special Meeting of its Counter Terrorism Committee in India, is also product of the fact that counter terrorism has become one of the top priorities during our ongoing tenure in the Security Council.”
Talking about advanced technologies being misused by terrorists, he said, “These new and emerging technologies – from virtual private networks, and encrypted messaging services to blockchain and virtual currencies – offer a very promising future for a wide array of economic and social benefits for humankind. However, there is a flip side especially where terrorism is concerned. These very technologies have also thrown up new challenges for the governments and regulatory bodies due to their potential vulnerability for misuse by non-state actors, given the very nature of some of these technologies and the nascent regulatory environment.”
The EAM further said, “In recent years, terrorist groups, their ideological fellow-travelers, particularly in open and liberal societies and ‘lone wolf’ attackers have significantly enhanced their capabilities by gaining access to these technologies. … Another add-on to the existing worries for governments around the world is the use of unmanned aerial systems by terrorist groups and organized criminal networks. Being a relatively low-cost option and with an increasing ease of accessibility, misuse of these unmanned aerial platforms for nefarious purposes by terrorist groups such as weapons and explosives delivery and targeted attacks have become an imminent danger. They are, therefore, a challenge for security agencies worldwide.”
He added, “A few months ago, terrorists launched cross-border drone attacks on the UAE and Saudi Arabia targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure, which led to loss of lives and injuries, including to Indian nationals there. India has strongly condemned these cross-border drone attacks both in UAE and Saudi Arabia.”
The EAM said, “One of the key points I had advocated was for Member States to increase funding for UN organs such as the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism, the UNOCT. We have with us, Ambassador Vladimir Voronkov, Under-Secretary-General for Counter-Terrorism. Excellency, I am happy to announce that India will be making a voluntary contribution of half a million dollars in the UN Trust Fund for Counter Terrorism this year, to augment the efforts of UNOCT in providing capacity building support to Member States in preventing and countering the threat of terrorism.”
He further said, “I would like to conclude by reaffirming India’s commitment to strengthen international efforts to combat terrorism, including combating the use of new and emerging technologies. The ‘Delhi Declaration’ which is to be adopted at this Special Meeting of the CTC will exemplify the commitment of the international community in dealing the threat of use of new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes.”
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