India expresses concern over rising threat of terrorism in Africa, Asia

Concerned about the spread of terrorism, particularly in Africa and Asia, India stated on Wednesday that the threat of terrorism can only be addressed through consistent and coordinated multilateral action. Ruchira Kamboj, India’s permanent representative to the United Nations, stated that India is committed to completely eliminating terrorism and will not rest until this goal is met.

She quoted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement, “even a single act of terrorism is one too many, even a single life lost is one too many” and said that in recent years, India has contributed more than USD 2 million to the UN Office of Counter Terrorism in support of its global programmes to counter financing of terrorism as well as stemming terrorists’ travels.”

We also reiterate our commitment to providing more financial resources to UNOCT from the regular UN budget in the future. Ruchira Kamboj, speaking at the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism Ambassadorial-level quarterly briefing to member States, stated that the threat of terrorism is serious and real, and that despite best efforts aimed at transnational cooperation, it continues to spread, particularly in the African and Asian regions.

She emphasised that the Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy should continue to have the support of all member states, saying that “the current Review Resolution adopted in 2021 is relevant and balanced,” and that the upcoming Review should be a technical update of this Resolution, taking into account the United Nations’ and other important fora’s activities and achievements.

Three, we must avoid divisive narratives. As a result, we should refrain from categorising terrorism. The use of terms like ‘right wing’ or ‘left wing’ or ‘far right’ or ‘far left’ is fraught with vested interests misusing them. Third, she stated that we must avoid divisive narratives. As a result, we should refrain from categorising terrorism. The use of terms like ‘right wing’ or ‘left wing’ or ‘far right’ or ‘far left’ is fraught with vested interests misusing them.

She congratulated ambassadors Bob Ray and Tarek Ladeb on their appointment as co-facilitators of the review process while speaking at the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism. According to Kamboj, these are concerning terrorism trends that must be reversed immediately. She outlined a four-point plan to put an end to terrorism.

The Permanent Representative of India to the UN also said, “We should exert our energy on addressing more serious issues such as the growing threat of terror financing, which has been further exacerbated by the use of new and emerging technologies by Terrorists and Terrorist Groups.”

As one of the concrete outcomes of the third “No Money for Terror” Conference in November 2022, India has offered to host the Permanent Secretariat for the Conference in Delhi.

In October 2022, India hosted the Counter Terrorism Committee Special Meeting, which adopted the Delhi Declaration on countering the use of new and emerging technologies, highlighting not only the threat, but also paving the way for the CTC to help member states address this threat holistically.

Pointing to the fourth aspect, she said, “It is important to protect the secular nature of the strategy. India strongly condemns all kinds of terrorist attacks irrespective of religion, belief, culture, race or ethnicity. In the same vein, we also condemn terrorist attacks motivated by Islamophobia, Christianphobia, Anti-Semitism, Anti-Sikh, Anti-Buddhist, Anti-Hindu prejudices.”

The 7th Review addressed the first three types of attacks while ignoring the rest. A more prudent approach would be to keep this reference as broad as possible, abandoning a list-based approach in the upcoming Review.