India has once again reiterated its commitment to fight the scourge of terrorism in all its forms
Without taking Pakistan’s name, India has said some countries, their governments and their agencies have made “Terrorism” their State Policy. “State sponsored terror from our western borders routines uses Unmanned Aerial Systems, for cross-border trafficking of drugs and arms and for carrying out terrorist attacks - a classic example of the synergy between terrorism and transnational crime. Our critical infrastructure is also witnessing growing and repeated cyber-attacks by malicious state actors. All these nefarious activities directly compromise a state’s collective security and prosperity,” Secretary (West) in the Ministry of External Affairs, Sanjay Verma said while addressing BIMSTEC Joint Working Group on Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime on Thursday. The two-day (January 12-13) meeting was chaired by Mahaveer Singhvi, Joint Secretary for Counter Terrorism in the Ministry of External Affairs. Zero Tolerance against terrorism India has established a policy of “Zero Tolerance” against terrorism, through a strong framework of counter-terror laws and empowerment of agencies. “We are committed to the common fight against global terrorism, including through combating the financing of terrorism, intelligence sharing and cooperating in investigative and judicial processes, capacity building and preventing misuse of modern technologies by terrorists and transnational crime syndicates,” the MEA official said. “Terrorism is the worst violation of human rights and personal freedoms. Terrorism and transnational crime however, remain one of the foremost challenges to regional peace and prosperity,” Sanjay Verma said. Need for collective efforts to counter terrorism The Secretary (West) emphasized the need for collective efforts in countering the menace of terrorism and transnational crimes through enhanced cooperation in the fields of capacity building, information exchange, extradition and legal assistance. “No state is immune to acts of terrorism, many of which are encouraged and sponsored beyond the borders of the affected state. Transnational crimes take the face of trafficking in humans, arms, drugs, minerals, wildlife, counterfeit goods, or even fraud and extortion, money laundering and cybercrime. Often, forces of terror and transnational crime combine, embracing advances in technology before others,” the MEA official added. Counter terrorism meetings in India In the recent past, India has hosted a special meeting of the United Nations Security Council's Counter-Terrorism Committee in October 2022, which saw the adoption of the Delhi Declaration on countering use of new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes. It also hosted the 3rd Ministerial Conference on Counter Terrorism Financing 'No Money for Terror' in November 2022 and the INTERPOL General Assembly in Delhi in October 2022. India has been at the forefront of global efforts to counter terrorism, and “our intention is to bring the world together in the war against terrorism and transnational crimes,” the MEA official said Misuse of technology by non-state actors Technological innovations and new and emerging technologies have resulted in new challenges for the governments, law enforcement agencies and regulatory bodies given their misuse by non-state actors for criminal purposes. “Internet and social media platforms have turned into potent instruments in the toolkit of terrorist and militant groups for spreading propaganda, radicalization and conspiracy theories aimed to destabilize societies. Cross-border threats are bolstered by the emergence of the darknet, which enables anonymous and unlawful activities by rogue actors and extremist propaganda, fundraising, narcotics smuggling and the illicit arms trade,” Sanjay Verma said. Amount of money laundered every year As per the IMF and the World Bank estimate, around $2 to $ 4 trillion worth of money is laundered every year in the world. Of this, a substantial part of it goes to fuel terrorism. “The anonymous, decentralized, and often untraceable nature of terror financing through a combination of cryptocurrency, crowd funding, mixers and the dark web, presents a serious issue that needs to be attended to,” the Secretary (West) said. Measures suggested for countering terrorism Six-point agenda was forwarded to fight the menace of terrorism and transnational crime and they included: Need to fix the accountability on States which support, shelter and sponsor terrorist entities and transnational crime syndicates. Need to build resilience through capacity building, transparent information exchange and law enforcement collaboration. Need to cooperate, both in the physical and virtual world where the infrastructure used by terror entities and transnational crime syndicates is scattered and traditional tools have limited efficacy. Need to counter the misuse of new and emerging technologies by terrorists and transnational crime syndicates. Need to have a contemporary comprehensive result-oriented approach to counter radicalization Need to proscribe terror entities objectively and without double standards