UN SECURITY COUNCIL ON TERRORISM

• The era of classifying terrorists as “bad” or “good” on the basis of “political convenience” must end immediately, a concept note circulated by India in the UN Security Council here has said, underlining that categorising terror acts by intent as religious or ideologically motivated will dilute the shared global commitment to fighting terrorism.
• Stressing that terrorism cannot be associated with any religion, nationality, civilisation or ethnic group, the note said all acts of terrorism were criminal. “Terrorism in all its forms and manifestations must be condemned.
• There cannot be an exception or justification for any act of terrorism, regardless of its motivation and wherever, whenever and by whomsoever committed.
• The era of classifying terrorists as ‘bad’, ‘not so bad’ or ‘good’ on the basis of political convenience must end immediately,” it said.
• India, the current President of the 15-nation Council, will hold two signature events on reformed multilateralism and counter-terrorism to be chaired by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Wednesday and Thursday.
• India proposes to organise a briefing of the Security Council on Thursday on “Global counter-terrorism approach — principles and the way forward” under the “Threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts”.
• Ahead of the meeting, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ruchira Kamboj, in a letter to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, asked that a concept note intended to guide the discussions on the topic be circulated as a document of the Security Council.
• “The terrorist attacks in New York on September 11, 2001 were a turning point in the global approach to counter-terrorism. Since then, London, Mumbai, Paris, many parts of West Asia and Africa have also experienced terrorist attacks,” the concept note last week said.
• It added that these attacks highlight that the threat of terrorism is universal and that terrorism in one part seriously impacts peace and security elsewhere.

Stop grading terrorists as good and bad: India

• It said that existing and emerging threats call for a renewed collective approach to terrorism.
• “Looking at the motivations behind terrorist acts and categorising such acts by intent as political or religious and by ideological motivation will dilute our shared commitment to fighting terrorism,” it said.
• The concept note voices concern that in recent times, there has been a resurgence of terrorist activities in both range and diversity, as well as in geographical space.
• The risk of radicalisation through the internet and social media, and terror financing using cryptocurrencies and crowdfunding platforms, was heightened, particularly during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
• Member states have, in recent times, also witnessed the use of unmanned aerial systems for the surveillance of targets, trafficking in drugs and arms, it said.
• The proposed high-level briefing also aims to provide an opportunity for Council members to build on the recent deliberations of the Counter-Terrorism Committee meeting in Mumbai and Delhi held in late October.

SOURCE: THE HINDU, THE ECONOMIC TIMES, PIB