NEW DELHI, Oct 26: Ways to check the use of social media, new fund-raising methods and unmanned aerial systems by terror groups across the globe will be the focus of a two-day special meeting of the UN Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee (UNCTC) this week in India.
British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, his counterpart from Gabon, Shirley Ayorkar Botchwey, and Foreign Minister of Ghana Reem Ebrahim Al Hashimy are among those attending the meeting on October 28 and 29, officials said on Wednesday.
The meet will begin on October 28 with a solemn ceremony at the Taj Mahal Palace hotel in Mumbai, where the participants will pay homage to the victims of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack. The second day’s deliberations will be in Delhi.
The Taj Mahal hotel was one of the targets of the horrific 26/11 terror attacks nearly 14 years ago.
Secretary (West) in the Ministry of External Affairs Sanjay Verma told a media briefing that the larger purpose of the unprecedented UNCTC meeting in Mumbai will resonate with the “rest of the world because what happened in 2008 was an attack on what would be the identity of India in the financial and commercial space”.
Ruchira Kamboj, India’s permanent representative to the United Nations (UN) and the current chair of the UNCTC, said the meeting will focus on dealing with the challenge of the use of new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes.
Jaishankar, along with the member states of the UN Security Council (15 current and five incoming) and senior UN officials, will lay a wreath at the 26/11 memorial site in the memory of the victims.
A number of family members of the victims of the 26/11 attack are scheduled to speak at the ceremony.
“We will be honoured to hear the voices of the victims of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks as well as the 2016 Brussels bombings. The meeting will be followed by an informal session on combating terror financing in the local and regional context,” Kamboj, in her capacity as the chair of the UNCTC, said at the briefing.
On October 29, the participants will hold wide-ranging deliberations on checking terror groups using emerging technologies.
“We cannot think of a better place to hold this meeting than right here in India. Not just because it is the world’s largest democracy, but also because India is a society where a host of cultures and religions coexist and because India is an innovation and technology powerhouse,” said David Scharia, the head of the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (UN-CTED).
“Sadly, India is also the right place to hold this meeting because of its own long and tragic experience with terrorism,” he added.
Kamboj said the meeting will focus on the overarching theme of “countering the use of new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes”.
“The special meeting will serve to reflect on recent developments and the latest evidence-based research regarding the threats posed by the use of these technologies for terrorist purposes as well as global efforts to counter these threats while respecting human rights and fundamental freedoms,” she said.
Verma said the British foreign secretary will be among the participants.
Asked about China repeatedly blocking efforts at the UN to designate Pakistan-based terrorists, Verma, without naming any country, said the proposals ran into objections based on technicalities and subjectivities that are guided by “geostrategic alliances”, far removed from the original cause for which the listing process was suggested.
“Till we see an overhaul in the multilateral process, whether in the UN Security Council or the larger UN system, we will continue to face such challenges,” he said.
The special meeting of the UNCTC in Mumbai and New Delhi is the first such meeting of the panel in India since its establishment in 2001.
Kamboj said the member states have made tangible progress in countering terrorism and violent extremism over the last two decades.
“Yet, as we all know, the terrorist threat persists and despite our best efforts, has evolved,” she said.
“Terrorism, in all its forms and manifestations, remains to constitute one of the most serious threats to international peace and security. With the growing prevalence of technology and a rapid rise in digitisation, addressing the use of new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes has become an issue of increasing concern,” Kamboj said.
She said the meeting will bring together a wealth of knowledge and real-world expertise in checking the use of new technologies for terrorist purposes.
“Any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable regardless of their motivations wherever, whenever and by whomsoever committed,” she added.
Asked about cross-border terrorism being supported by Pakistan, Verma said, “We will not venture to suggest that the general discussions and the consensus building, which we aim to achieve through the deliberations, will double down on any specific event.”
“But I think the backdrop, the timing and the nature of how the programming has been put together would suggest that we see such efforts,” he added. (PTI)
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