India’s prolonged efforts for adoption of a Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism have received important support from the influential BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and two other groups.
led by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s strong push on the subject, BRICS, IBSA (India-Brazil-South Africa) and India-ClAC (an outreach group with latin American and Caribbean countries) have all issued statements seeking early adoption of the anti-terror convention after ministerial meetings in New York held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session.
It was India that first mooted the idea of the comprehensive convention way back in 1996 with the aim of tackling the growing phenomenon of terrorism effectively, notably by speeding up prosecution and extradition of terrorists.
At the BRICS ministerial meeting, Swaraj launched a veiled attack on Pakistan, stating that militants were continuing to find shelter in countries that are using terrorism as an “instrument of state policy”.
“The horror of terrorism continues to haunt global peace and security. Terror groups draw sustenance from support systems in South Asia,” she said in comments made before Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s address to the UN General Assembly, adding: “We must condemn efforts, including by States, to use religion to justify, sustain and sponsor terrorism against other countries.”
Calling for collective efforts to disrupt terrorist networks, their financing and movement, Swaraj, without naming Pakistan as such, said: “Their weapons supply, training and political support must be systematically cut off.” The reference to counter-terrorism has been a common thread in most of the statements from multilateral meetings that Swaraj has attended in New York in the last three days, External Affairs Minister spokesman Raveesh Kumar told reporters.
A joint statement adopted by the BRICS Foreign Ministers “reiterated their strong condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations”.
“They urged concerted efforts to counter terrorism on a firm international legal basis, under the UN auspices, and expressed their conviction that a comprehensive approach was necessary to ensure effective fight against terrorism,” the statement said.
It also stressed the role of the BRICS Counter-Terrorism Working Group in further deepening the dialogue on counter-terrorism cooperation.
ENDS