India votes for UNSC resolution to renew mandate of Counter Terrorism Executive Directorate

United Nations, Dec 31 (UNI) As it prepares to chair the UN Security Council’s Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) in 2022, India has voted in favour of a resolution to renew the mandate of the CTC Executive Directorate, and urged member states not to allow any kind of justification for terrorist acts.
India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, TS Tirumurti, in a tweet said: “India today voted in favor of #UNSC resolution to renew mandate of the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate @UN_CTED.
“India will chair #CounterTerrorism Committee of #SecurityCouncil from 1 January 2022 for one year,” he posted.
In his explanation of the vote at the UNSC on Thursday, Tirumurti said that India having suffered the scourge of cross border terrorism for decades has always been at the forefront of global counter terrorism efforts.
He said India is committed to pursue all necessary measures in collaboration with other member States towards the goal of zero tolerance for terrorism.
As the Chair of CTC for 2022, “India will make determined efforts to further enhance its role in strengthening the multilateral response to counter terrorism, and more importantly, ensuring that global response to the threat of terrorism remains unambiguous, undivided and effective”, he said.
He said that in June this year, the seventh review resolution of the Global Counter Terrorism Strategy or GCTS was adopted by the General Assembly by consensus.
“However, it is unfortunate that attempts are being made to undermine the hard-earned consensus. The tendency to put more constraints on member States, even at the expense of compromising their ability to effectively deal with the threat of terrorism, is worrying,” Tirumurti remarked.
He urged for a whole-of-society approach to counter terrorism as the need of the hour.
This will assist governments in addressing the threats posed by the use of new technologies like Internet and social media for disseminating propaganda, organizing and recruitment by the terrorist groups, new methods of financing such as cryptocurrencies, use of drones in cross-border trafficking of drugs, arms, and even for launching complex terrorist attacks on neighbouring countries.
He said that India welcomes the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate’s engagement with private sector and international bodies, including the Financial Action Task Force [FATF] aimed at addressing these challenges, and added that CTED’s engagement with civil society organizations needs to become more geographically inclusive and representative.
He also urged member States to “remain united against the tendency of labelling acts of terrorism based on its motivation. Such categorization will lead the global community back to the pre-9/11 era of “my terrorist” versus “your terrorist”.
“We cannot allow anyone anywhere providing any kind of justification for terrorist acts. Combating terrorism must be at the center of Our Common Agenda, not at its periphery,” he urged.
Tirumurti said the dynamic nature of the threat of terrorism and its wide-ranging impact on all sections of the society, has manifested the need for harnessing the synergies of the private sector, civil society organizations, academic institutions, and think tanks to address the threat of terrorism.
The UN Security Council renewed the mandate of the CTED until December 31, 2025. An interim review will be conducted in December 2023.
The Counter Terrorism Committee is assisted by the Executive Directorate (CTED), which carries out its policy decisions and conducts expert assessments of the 193 United Nations Member States.