United action is needed To defeat terrorism

J L Koul Jalali

Way back in 1986, India had proposed a draft document at the UN on the compre hensive convention on international terrorism. Still, it was not implemented because of a lack of unity among member states, even on the definition of terrorism. Having been hit hard the most, particularly by cross-border terrorism, India made persistent efforts in United Nations and outside of it during the past over half a decade to ensure united action against the scourge. The efforts have started to bear fruit. United Nations Security Council's counter- terrorism committee, in its special meeting held in Mumbai on the 28th at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel and Delhi the next day on the 29th of October, unanimously urged all member states of the UN to ensure zero tolerance against terrorist activities and vowed to deal with the menace more vigorously. India hosted the meeting in its capacity as the Chairman of the Committee. Representatives of all fifteen member countries of the Security Council attended the special meeting. The special meeting concluded with adopting Delhi Declaration to defeat the menace of terrorism.

In his message to the meeting, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for global efforts to deal with the challenge of using new technologies by various terror groups. Terrorists and others posting hateful ideologies are abusing new and emerging technologies to spread disinformation, foment discord, recruit and radicalise people, mobilise resources and execute attacks, he said. The Delhi Declaration expressed concern over the increasing use of the internet and other information and communication technologies, including social media platforms, for terrorist purposes and said innovations in financial technologies and crowdfunding platforms presented a risk of misuse for terror financing and noted with concern increasing global misuse of unmanned aerial systems by terrorists to conduct attacks on the critical infrastructure.

The Declaration also called for urgent action to counter terror through the full and effective implementa- tion of various UN resolutions. It reaffirmed that terrorism in all its forms constituted one of the most serious threats to international peace and security.

The declaration urged all member states to deny access to terrorists to safe havens and bring to justice all persons supporting or planning terrorist attacks. It emphasised that terrorists' access to safe havens continued to be of serious concern and called on all UN member states to cooperate fully in the fight against terrorism in order to identify safe havens and deny terrorists access to them and bring to justice any person who supports, facilitates, participates in their financing, planning and preparation or commission of terrorist acts including by protecting safe-havens.

The counter-terrorism committee stressed the need to counter efforts by the Islamic State and Al Qaeda effectively, and other affiliates to incite and recruit for terrorist acts. It condemned the continued flow of weapons, military equipment, unmanned aerial systems and improvised explosive devices for terrorist acts.

The Delhi Declaration opposed the association of terrorism with any religion, nationality, civilisation, or ethnic group and called on member states to continue their efforts towards a comprehensive convention on international terrorism.

Terrorism poses a serious threat to international peace and security, human rights, and social and economic development. In his speech at the special meeting session on countering the use of New and Emerging Technologies for terrorist purposes, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar pointed out that the key conspirators and planners of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack continue to remain protected and unpunished. He said that when it comes to proscribing some terrorists, the United Nations Security Council has been regrettably unable to act in some cases because of political considerations. This was obviously a reference to China which has blocked the UNSC from sanctioning Pakistan-based terrorists a number of times. Terrorism has plagued several regions of the world, but India understands its costs more than others, the External Affairs Minister said. But with that experience comes the steeling of national resolve, and decades of cross-border terror has not and will not weaken our commitment to fight back, he said. We must rise above our political differences to address this scourge. Fight against terrorism must be fought resolutely at all fronts, in all situations and at all places, he added.

All acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable, whatever their motivation be. Terrorists require money to operate. They cannot purchase weapons, equipment, supplies, and services without funding. An important aspect of combating terrorism is that terror financing should be effectively curbed. The counter- terrorism sanctions regime of the United Nations has been effective as it has put on notice countries that turned terrorism into a state- funded enterprise.

In his inaugural address to the special meeting, Sh. Jaishankar said international cooperation and concerted action against terrorists and their sponsors, including thorough dismantlement of terrorist safe havens, sanctuaries, training grounds and financial and ideological as well as political support structures, are critical imperatives to defeat this scourge.

To achieve these goals fully, it is essential to reform the United Nations Security Council, and as a first step, it needs to be made fully representative of the whole world. Currently, it lacks full representation glaringly, with no representation for the whole continent of Africa and no permanent representation for India, with a population of 1.5 billion. Even with the unstructured world body as it stands at present as a beginning, such a reform of the Security Council may have some positive impact to curb the tendency to hold the world hostage through the use of or threat of use of veto power. In the absence of broader reforms, it may introduce some qualms in turning countries like Pakistan, the epicentre of terrorism, into an ally or deriving political advantage through the encouragement of fundamentalist and radical forces. This further strengthens the case for urgent reforms and restructuring the world body to sensitise it about the requirements of the present-day world beset with problems like epidemics, climate change, piles of nuclear, biological and other weapons of mass destruction, terrorism and other matters and issues threatening even the survival of humankind. It also lays bare the need for a World Parliament, which alone can tackle humankind's dangers more effectively.

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Courtesy:- J. L. Koul Jalali and 2022 December koshur Samachar