Being a victim of cross-border terrorism for several decades, India has called for a collective effort of all UN member states to deal with those countries that blatantly violate global commitments by harbouring terrorists and terrorist entities by willfully giving moral, material, financial and ideological support to these groups to foment terrorism and disrupt social harmony and peace.

Speaking at the UN general debate on 'Adoption of Resolution on 7th Review of Global Counter Terrorism Strategy (GCTS)' Tuesday night, Ambassador T.S. Tirumurti, Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations, said that the current strategy fails to resolve the stalemate preventing the adoption of a comprehensive convention on international terrorism, which India has championed.

India, which has been at the forefront of the fight against terrorism and one of the major victims of terrorism, reiterated that the continued absence of a universally agreed definition of terrorism is detrimental to the shared goal of eliminating it.

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PR @AmbTSTirumurti speaks at the #UNGA Debate on UN Global #CounterTerrorism Strategy (#GCTS)

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"The international community needs to adopt a policy of zero-tolerance towards terrorism. Our collective condemnation of terrorism must be loud, clear and without any ambiguity," the ambassador said, highlighting that it is time to call out those that blatantly violate global commitments by harbouring terrorists and terrorist entities, including those proscribed by the UN.

He pointed out that when the Global Counter Terrorism Strategy – a major step forward in maintaining and achieving international peace and security – was adopted 15 years ago, the international community had acknowledged that the threat of terrorism is grave and universal, and can only be defeated by collective efforts of all UN member states, without any exception.

"It was agreed that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations should be condemned, there cannot be any exception or justification for any act of terrorism, regardless of motivations behind such acts, and wherever, whenever and by whomsoever committed. It was also recognized that the menace of terrorism cannot be and should not be associated with any religion, nationality, civilization or ethnic group," Tirumurti said.

However, the ambassador said, it is essential for all the member states to not only not squander the gains of what has been achieved so far but also ensure that not the slightest opportunity is provided to justify terrorism, thereby diminishing the collective fight.  

"Justifying terrorism in any way, whether on grounds of religion, ideology, ethnicity or race, will only provide the necessary fodder for terrorists to enhance their activities even more," he said.

He further added that it was only after 9/11 – before which the world was divided into "your terrorists" or "my terrorists" – that everyone accepted that terrorism in one part can directly impact another part of the world.  

"20 years later, we are now seeing attempts to divide us once again by adopting new terminologies under the guise of 'emerging threats' such as racially and ethnically-motivated violent extremism, violent nationalism, right wing extremism, etc.  I do hope that member states do not forget history and divide terrorism again into different categories and take us back to the era of 'your terrorists' and 'my terrorists' and erase the gains we have had over the last two decades," said India's Permanent Representative to the UN.
 
He also deliberated on the misuse of internet and social media for terrorist propaganda, radicalization and recruitment of cadre; misuse of new payment methods such as block-chain currencies, payment wallets, crowdfunding platforms for financing of terrorism; and misuse of emerging technologies such as drones, 3D printing, Artificial Intelligence, robotics for terrorist purposes, which have emerged as the most serious threats of terrorism and warrant collaborative actions from all member states.

"While the matter of religious 'phobias' finds mention in the current document, we are once again constrained to point out that this listing has been selective and confined only to the three Abrahamic religions.  This august body has once again failed to acknowledge the rise of hatred and violent terrorist attacks against other religions, inter alia, Buddhism, Sikhism and Hinduism,"  Tirumurti added.

India said that success of the strategy will depend only if member states walk the talk by sincerely implementing the provisions and fulfilling their obligations as envisaged in the strategy.

"We need to make a distinction between countries which are pluralistic and those which resort to  sectarian violence and trample over minority rights. The United Nations is not a body or the forum where member states should take sides on religious-phobias, but should instead truly foster a culture based on universal principles of humanity and compassion so that terrorists’ narratives are fought collectively," the ambassador said in his statement.