Terrorism remains one of the most serious threats to international peace and growing use of technology and digitisation for terrorist purposes has become an issue of increasing concern.
These issues will be the main agenda of a three-day meet hosted by India under the aegis of the United Nations. The Counter Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED)will hold a special meeting in Mumbai and New Delhi on October 28-30. United Kingdom(UK)Foreign Secretary James Cleverly is among the Foreign Ministers scheduled to take part in the high-profile event.
Highlighting some of the main features of the upcoming meet, Indian envoy to UN Ruchira Kamboj said here UN Security Council(UNSC) counter-terrorism meet will focus on dealing with use of internet, new payment mechanism and drones by terrorists.
Giving details of the event, Kamboj said over the past two decades, member states have made tangible progress in countering terrorism and violent extremism conducive to terrorism. Yet, terrorist threat persists and despite our best efforts has evolved, she added.
While the first day's meeting will take place in Mumbai on October 28, the second day's deliberations will take place in New Delhi the next day.
The UNSC has given focus to this issue in a number of counter-terrorism related resolutions, most recently its resolution 2617 (2021), which specifically refers to “emerging technologies”.
The Special Meeting will focus specifically on three significant areas in which emerging technologies are experiencing rapid development, growing use by Member States (including for security and counter-terrorism purposes), and an increasing threat of abuse for terrorism purposes: (i) use of the Internet and social media; (ii) terrorism financing; and (iii) unmanned aerial systems (UAS).
The objectives of the Special Meeting are to provide an overview of the ways in which Member States are deploying new technological developments to prevent and counter terrorist narratives and acts and to bring terrorists to justice, consistent with their human rights obligations.
Secondly, to update Member States on recent developments and the latest evidence-based research regarding the threats posed by terrorist use of new and emerging technologies, they said. Thirdly, the meet will identify continuing challenges and fourthly to share existing good practices in legislative, policy, and regulatory responses, industry activities, public-private partnerships, and compliance with international human rights law.
The Special Meeting will also provide an opportunity to reflect on the work of the Committee, CTED, and their operational partners on countering the use of new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes.
It will also facilitate the review of steps taken to institute appropriate legal, policy, and operational measures besides efforts to develop and utilize public-private partnerships
The discussions will also focus on ways in which States and other relevant actors can strengthen their engagement and cooperation in countering the use of new and emerging technologies by terrorists and their financiers.