The United Nations Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee’s special meeting was concluded on October 29 in New Delhi. The inaugural meeting was held in Mumbai.
- Indian ambassador to the UN Smt. Ruchira Kamboj Chaired the UNSC-CTC.
Key points
- During the meeting, India sought to focus on the misuse of emerging technologies by terrorist groups. He called for “zero tolerance towards terrorism”.
- India’s External Affairs Minister Mr. S. Jaishankar said that new and emerging technologies had enhanced capabilities of terror groups, “particularly in open and liberal societies”.
- Shri Jaishakar also emphasizes that Internet and social media platforms have turned into potent instruments in the toolkit of terrorist and militant groups for spreading propaganda, radicalisation and conspiracy theories aimed at destabilising societies.
- The meeting, which was addressed by all members of the Security Council, and included ministerial-level participation from Albania, Gabon, Ghana, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom, committed to ending safe havens for terrorists and countering new technologies being used for terrorism.
Delhi Declaration
- The CTC unanimously adopted the Delhi Declaration on countering the use of new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes.
- Among the listed items in the Declaration include the decision to continue to work on recommendations on the three themes of the Special meeting and the intention to develop a set of non-binding guiding principles to assist Member States to counter the threat posed by the use of new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes.
- The declaration aims to cover the main concerns surrounding the abuse of drones, social media platforms, and crowdfunding, and create guidelines that will help to tackle the growing issue.
- Members of the Committee will draft recommendations to counter the terrorist exploitation of Information and Communications Technology, such as payment technologies and fundraising methods and misuse of unmanned aerial systems (UAS, or drones).
- The Declaration also decided on a new set of non-binding guiding principles to assist Member States in countering the digital terrorism threat will be issued, with a compilation of good practices on the opportunities offered by the same set of technologies to tackle threats.
About UNSC Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC)
- In the aftermath of the 11 September attacks against the United States in 2001, the Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 1373 (2001), which for the first time established a dedicated Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) of the Council.
- The Committee is composed of all members of UN Security council (Total 15 Members).
- The CTC is assisted by an Executive Directorate (CTED), which carries out its policy decisions and conducts expert assessments of the 193 United Nations Member States.
- CTED conducts country visits on the Counter-Terrorism Committee’s behalf to assess Member States’ counter-terrorism efforts, including progress made, remaining shortfalls, and priority areas for technical assistance needs, as well as to identify terrorism-related trends and challenges and good practices employed in the implementation of relevant Security Council resolutions.
