UN Sec Gen Guterres says India an important member of UN, shares plans for counter-terrorism.
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has said the world body plans to increase its cooperation with India on counter-terrorism, calling India as an ‘important member’ of the United Nations in countering terrorism and combating terror financing.
UN Sec Gen Guterres who will be on a three day visit to India, said the planning and implementation of acts of terrorism “transcend borders” and it is the responsibility of all the states to take action to address the conditions conducive to the spread of terrorism.
“The threat of radicalization, violent extremism and terrorism continues to persist and even grow in many parts of the world”, said UN Sec Gen Guterres in an email interview. “Modern day terrorists are savvy in both technology and social media, successfully exploiting contemporary tools to propagate the narrative of hate and violence to recruit young people and raise funds”, he added.
UN Sec Gen Guterres said India’s contribution to the UN trust fund for counter terrorism would help execute capacity building projects to combat terrorism. The UN Chief emphasised that all nations must prevent and combat incitement to violence, and enforce counter terrorism. “There are also plans for cooperation between India and United Nations on strengthening capacity in the areas of countering terror financing and on the use of advance passenger information,” he added.
The United Nations Global Counter- Terrorism strategy provides a solid framework for such joint action while also calling upon all states to respect international humanitarian and human rights law. However, the UN Sec Gen Guterres expressed concerns about the situation in Jammu and Kashmir.
Guterres said he has encouraged “positive dialogue” to resolve agreements. “On the development front, India already is and can become an even greater regional development force helping other countries of the region forge a better future”, UN Sec Gen Guterres added.
As part of India’s continuing commitment to strengthen multilateral efforts to counter terrorism and support the work of the newly established UN Office for Counter Terrorism (OCT), the Indian government had this year announced a voluntary contribution of $50,000 for the October.
UN Sec Gen Guterres noted that though the primary responsibility lies with Member States, the UN Secretariat is fully committed to supporting efforts to tackle terrorism and to helping find multilateral solutions to complex global challenges such as this.
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