India says era of classifying terrorists as 'bad, 'good' on basis of political convenience must end immediately

United Nations, December 11

The era of classifying terrorists as “bad” or “good” on the basis of “political convenience” must end immediately, a concept note circulated by India in the UN Security Council here has said, underlining that categorising terror acts by intent as religious or ideologically motivated will dilute the shared global commitment to fighting terrorism.

India, the current president of the 15-nation UN Security Council, will hold two signature events on reformed multilateralism and counter-terrorism to be chaired by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on December 14 and 15.

India proposes to organise a briefing of the Security Council on December 15 on ‘Global counter-terrorism approach – principles and the way forward’ under the ‘Threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts’.

Ahead of the meeting, India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj, in a letter to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, asked that a concept note intended to guide the discussions on the topic be circulated as a document of the Security Council.

“The terrorist attacks in New York on September 11, 2001 were a turning point in the global approach to counter-terrorism. Since then, London, Mumbai, Paris, many parts of West Asia and Africa have also experienced terrorist attacks,” the concept note last week said.

It added that these attacks highlight that the threat of terrorism is grave and universal and that terrorism in one part of the world seriously impacts peace and security in other parts of the globe.

“The threat of terrorism is transnational. Terrorist actors and their supporters, facilitators and financiers collaborate while remaining in different jurisdictions to organise acts anywhere in the world. A transnational threat can be defeated only by the collective efforts of all States Members of the United Nations,” it said.

Stressing that the menace of terrorism cannot be associated with any religion, nationality, civilisation or ethnic group, the note said that all acts of terrorism are criminal.

“Terrorism in all its forms and manifestations must be condemned. There cannot be an exception or justification for any act of terrorism, regardless of its motivation and wherever, whenever and by whosoever committed. The era of classifying terrorists as “bad”, “not so bad” or “good” on the basis of political convenience must end immediately.”

It said that existing and emerging threats call for a renewed collective approach to terrorism.