UNSC Counter-Terrorism meet to focus on emerging threats

However, she added that despite our greatest efforts, the threat of terrorism still exists and has even changed…reports Asian Lite News

The UNSC Counter-Terrorism Committee’s special meeting in Mumbai and New Delhi on October 28 and 29 will focus on the use of new and emerging technologies for terrorism. It will concentrate on addressing terrorists’ use of the internet, new payment methods, and drones.

The panel will be meeting in India for the first time. This will also be the first time in seven years that the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee will meet outside it’s headquarters in New York.

British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, Gabon’s Foreign Secretary who is also president of the United Nations Security Council Michael Moussa Adamo, Ghana’s Foreign Minister Shirley Ayorkar Botchwey, UAE’s Minister of State for International Cooperation Reem Ebrahim Al Hashimy, and Albania’s Deputy Foreign Minister Megi Fino are expected to attend. The UN counter terror delegation headed by under-secretary general Vladimir Voronkov, will also be present.

Addressing a special media briefing on Wednesday, MEA Secretary Sanjay Verma said the meeting will begin with a soft opening session and tribute to the victims of terrorism in Mumbai through a solemn ceremony at Hotel Taj Mahal Palace.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, along with member states of the UNSC including the 15 current members and the incoming five and other senior UN officials, will lay a wreath at the 26/11 memorial site. They will also observe a minute’s silence in memory of the victims.

According to Verma, the meeting’s main focus will be “countering the use of new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes.” It will start with a homage to terrorism victims, he said during a special media briefing on Wednesday.

Ruchira Kamboj, the chair of the UN’s Counter-Terrorism Committee and India’s permanent representative to the UN, said member states have achieved real strides against terrorism and violent extremism that supports it over the past 20 years. However, she added that despite our greatest efforts, the threat of terrorism still exists and has even changed.

She added that the Committee has gathered in India for its special meeting on combating the use of new and emerging technologies for terrorist objectives in order to address this problem and recognize the potential of technology to boost the efficacy of counterterrorism measures.

“The focus (will be) specifically on rapid development, growing used by member states and increasing threat of use for terrorist purposes of 3 significant technologies – 1) internet, including social media, 2) new payment technologies and fundraising methods, 3) unmanned aerial systems, including drones,” she added.

Discussing the wider significance of this historic meeting of the Counter-Terrorism Committee in Mumbai, MEA Secretary Verma said that it will have global significance due to the fact that the attack in 2008 targeted India’s identity in the financial and commercial sphere.

“A city which reflects the best of India in terms of its economic development in recent years. The fact that the CTC has agreed to begin its deliberations in Mumbai is a message in itself,” he added.

ALSO READ-US envoy Lu to attend UNSC counter-terrorism meet in India