GS Paper 2
Syllabus: Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and Agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests
Source: The Hindu
Context: The decision to host the United Nations Security Council’s Counter-Terrorism Committee (UNSC-CTC) is one of several events planned by the Government of India to strengthen its counter-terror diplomacy.
How India is strengthening its counter-terror diplomacy?
- Last month (October), the Special Meeting of the UNSC-CTC was hosted by India in Mumbai and Delhi, focussing on new and emerging technologies .
- Later this month (November), New Delhi will host the third edition of the No Money for Terror (NMFT) conference for tackling future modes of terror financing.
- Next month (December), India will chair a special briefing on the Global Counter-Terrorism Architecture, looking at the challenges ahead.
- However, it is critical to evaluate some of the current challenges, particularly when the world is dealing with the war in Europe, COVID-19 and the global recession.
Challenges ahead for India:
- The foundation of the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) is an unequal approach:
- For example,
- USA’s counter-terrorism efforts post-9/11 attack differs from its recent approach to negotiate with the Taliban and then withdrew from Afghanistan.
- Pakistan was recently removed from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list.
- This shows that counter-terrorism cooperation will become less cooperative in the future and counter-terrorism regimes such as UNSC Resolutions 1267, and 1373, will become ineffective.
- For example,
- Increasing global division over the Russia-Ukraine conflict:
- It is not only shifting the focus from terrorism but is also blurring the definition of what constitutes terrorism.
- For example, drone attacks by Yemeni Houthis on the UAE’s oil infrastructure were condemned as terrorist attacks while drone attacks on Russian ships in a port used for loading grain were not.
- This division has rendered the UNSC unable to pass any meaningful resolutions as they are vetoed either by Russia, western members or China.
- For example, India’s proposal for the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) has made very little progress due to a lack of consensus over the definition of terrorism.
- Emerging technologies used for terrorism purposes:
- Drones, biowarfare and Gain-of-Function (GoF) research to mutate viruses and vectors, artificial intelligence (AI) systems and robotic soldiers makes it even easier to perpetrate mass attacks while maintaining anonymity.
- Terror financing uses bitcoins and cryptocurrency and terror communications use the dark web.
- It is not only shifting the focus from terrorism but is also blurring the definition of what constitutes terrorism.
Way ahead:
- Terrorist acts of the future will grow more and more lethal. Thus, developing a global consensus on –
- What constitutes terrorism,
- Regulating the use of emergent technologies by all responsible states is the need of the hour.
- Reducing global inequality, food and energy shortages, and adverse impacts of climate change and pandemics needs to be on the top of the agenda of the international community.
Conclusion: As the host of these counter-terrorism meetings, India must set the global narrative of not only fighting the “last war” on terrorism but also preparing for the next.
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