Can’t be complacent about terror groups in Afghanistan, says India at UNSC meet

The United Nations Security Council cannot afford to be complacent about the activities of terror groups active in Afghanistan, including Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Haqqani Network,external affairs minister S Jaishankar said on Thursday.

Jaishankar made the remarks while chairing a UN Security Council briefing on the theme, “Threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts”, against the backdrop of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan over the weekend. India holds the rotating presidency of the UN’s top body for August.

He reiterated an eight-point action plan to counter terrorism that he first proposed while addressing the Security Council in January. The plan envisages greater political will to tackle terrorism, getting rid of double standards on terrorism, not placing blocks and holds on requests for sanctioning terrorist individuals and groups without reason, and backing and strengthening the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

Turning to terrorist threats in India’s immediate neighbourhood, Jaishankar said the Islamic State-Khorasan has “become more energetic and is constantly seeking to expand its footprint”.

He added, “Events unfolding in Afghanistan have naturally enhanced global concerns about their implications for both regional and international security. The heightened activities of the proscribed Haqqani Network justifies this growing anxiety.”

Jaishankar also raised India’s concerns about Pakistan-based terror groups such as LeT and JeM, saying: “Whether it is in Afghanistan or against India, groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed continue to operate with both impunity and encouragement. It is, therefore, vital that this Council does not take a selective, tactical or complacent view of the problems we face.”

In a tacit reference to Pakistan, Jaishankar said the world community “must never countenance sanctuaries for terrorists or overlook their raising of resources”.

“And when we see state hospitality being extended to those with innocents’ blood on their hands, we should never lack the courage to call out their double-speak. Let us always remember that what is true of Covid is even more true of terrorism: none of us are safe until all of us are safe.”

The latest report of the UN secretary-general, he said, provided another stark reminder that the Islamic State or Daesh continues to pose a “critical threat to international peace and security”.

Daesh is active in Syria and Iraq and its affiliates are growing in strength, particularly in Africa, while the group’s mobilisation of financial resources has become “more robust”.

He said, “The flow of funds has continued and rewards for killings are now even being paid in Bitcoins. The radicalisation of vulnerable youth by systematic online propaganda campaigns remains a serious concern.”

The world community believes all forms of terrorism must be condemned, and there cannot be any exception or justification for any act of terror, regardless of motivations behind such acts, Jaishankar said.

“We also recognise that the menace of terrorism cannot be and should not be associated with any religion, nationality, civilisation or ethnic group. However, in spite of the progress we have made to tighten the legal, security, financing and other frameworks to combat terrorism, terrorists are constantly finding newer ways of motivating, resourcing and executing acts of terror,” he said.

“Unfortunately, there are also some countries who seek to undermine or subvert our collective resolve to fight terrorism. This cannot be allowed to pass,” he added.

In addition to building on the eight-point action plan for counter-terrorism proposed in January, the Security Council can also end the stalemate preventing the adoption of a Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism put forward by India, Jaishankar said.

The meeting was given a briefing by Vladimir Voronkov, under secretary general of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT), and Michele Coninsx, executive director of the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) on the report on the threat posed by Daesh. It was also briefed by Davood Moradian, director general of the Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies.