‘Threat of terrorism growing and expanding in Asia and Africa, despite UN Security Council’s best efforts’, says Jaishankar | India News

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NEW DELHI: External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Saturday highlighted the global threat of terrorism is growing and expanding, particularly in Asia and Africa, despite best efforts to combat the “gravest threat to humanity”.
Addressing the United Nation Security Council’s special meeting of the Counter-Terrorism Committee in the national capital, Jaishankar said, “Terrorism remains the gravest threat to humanity. The UNSC in the past two decades has evolved an important architecture built, primarily around the counter-terrorism sanctions regime to combat this menace.”
UNSC’s special two-day meet is being hosted by India and is being held under India’s chair of the Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC).
He told CTC members that their presence in Delhi at the special meeting demonstrates the importance that the UNSC member states and a wide range of stakeholders, place on this critical and emerging facet of terrorism.
“The council is holding this special meeting of its counter-terrorism meetings in India, is also a product of the fact that counterterrorism has become one of the top priorities during our ongoing tenure in the security council,” he added.
Highlighting the flip sides of emerging technologies, Jaishankar said technologies like virtual private network, encrypted message services and blockchains, have also thrown up new challenges for governments and regulatory bodies.
“The technologies have also thrown up new challenges for governments and regulatory bodies due to their potential vulnerability for their misuse by non-state actors, given the very nature of some of these technologies and the nascent regulatory environment,” the minister said.
“In recent years, terrorist groups, ideological fellow travellers particularly in open and liberal societies and lone wolf attackers have enhanced their capabilities by gaining access to tech. They use tech, money and ethos of open societies to attack freedom, tolerance and progress,” he added.
Furthermore, Jaishankar said internet and social media platforms have turned into potent instruments in the toolkit of terrorists and militant groups for spreading propaganda, radicalisation and conspiracy theories aimed at destabilising societies.
“Another add-on to the existing worries for governments around the world is the use of unmanned aerial systems by terrorist groups and organised criminal networks,” he added.
Lastly, Jaishankar announced that India will be making a voluntary contribution of half a million dollars to the UN Trust Fund for Counter Terrorism this year to augment the efforts of UNOCT in providing capacity-building support to member states in preventing and countering the threat of terrorism.
(With inputs from agencies)



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