India turns heat on terror patronage by China, Pakistan; voices global accountability
By Our Special Correspondent
New Delhi, December 15: From pushing the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) to stick to its principal mandate to countering terrorism to raising voices against culpability of China and Pakistan in fostering terror sanctuaries, India is emerging as the foremost voice seeking accountability at the United Nations. China by blocking the joint bids of India and the US to designate dreaded terrorists living in comforts in the arms of Pakistani intelligence agency ISI has sent India on an overdrive to pin down the culpable nations for their complicity.
On the assumption of the Indian Presidency of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), Foreign Minister S Jaishankar without taking the names of China and Pakistan dropped enough suggestions that India has no more appetite for double-speak of the terror sympathizing nations. “Terrorism is an existential threat to international peace and security. It knows no borders, nationality, or race, and is a challenge that the international community must combat collectively,” Jaishankar said at the UNSC on Thursday, while making the briefing as a part of India’s ongoing efforts in the Security Council to re-invigorate the counter-terrorism agenda in which he stressed that the threat of terrorism has actually become even more serious.
Jaishankar said that “we cannot forget that old habits and established networks are still alive, especially in South Asia. The contemporary epicenter of terrorism remains very much active, whatever gloss may be applied to minimize unpleasant realities.” His reference was clearly about Pakistan, which continues to ride the ‘terror tiger’ as part of a strategy to rule the country by proxy by keeping alive the fear psychosis of an existential threat to the Islamic country on account of India.
In a discussion on AIR, former ambassador Vishnu Prakash also noted that the growing irrelevance of bodies like the UNSC is on account of clear patronage of terrorism by China. He cautioned Beijing, saying that the menace of terrorism may come haunting China also.
India, after taking the Presidency of G20, is clearly seeking to turn the global attention to the efforts to close the tap of the financial flow to the terrorism outfits, which is being brought as an agenda at the UNSC, G20 and SCO. Jaishankar highlighted four specific challenges with which the counter-terrorism architecture is currently grappling: “The issue of terror financing and State culpability, whether by commission or omission; ensuring integrity & accountability of counter-terror multilateral mechanisms and their working methods; addressing double standards in countering terrorism, leading to concerns of politicization; countering threats from misuse of new and emerging technologies by terrorists.”
He stated that the suggestion that states who are apparently capable on everything else but are only helpless when it comes to terrorism is ludicrous. “Accountability must therefore be the bedrock of counter-terrorism. No individual state should endeavor to seek political gain from terrorism and none of us collectively should ever put up with such calculations. When it comes to tackling terrorism, we must overcome political differences and manifest a zero-tolerance approach,” added Jaishankar.
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