Adopt global convention to combat terrorism, India tells UN again

New Delhi: India on Monday renewed its pitch for early adoption of a global convention by the UN to effectively combat terrorism, terming the menace the single biggest threat to international peace and security.

In an obvious reference to Pakistan, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said India has been a victim of “proxy war” for several decades and that there was a need for developing an Asian approach to push the global fight against terror networks.

Calling for early adoption of India-backed Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) by the UN, Parrikar said terror remains the “most pervasive and serious challenge” to international security and an united approach to deal with it was very important.

He was speaking at a conference on combating terrorism at the Institute of Defence Studies and Analysis. Parrikar said there must be action against entities which fund terror groups, propagate their ideologies and provide safe havens to terror groups and added that India has been seeking inclusion of these provisions in the CCIT.

Talking about issues relating to global security, Parrikar also mentioned about challenges like global uncertainty, revival of populist movements, heightened nationalism, backlash against globalisation and possible closing of borders by several countries.

The Union Minister said Asia has been victim of some of the most dreaded terrorist networks and a strong regional push from Asia will exert more pressure on rest of the world to adapt a cohesive framework to combat terror.

Without giving specific details, he said India experienced almost seven per cent of the total terror attacks globally.

“Terrorism remains the most pervasive and serious challenge to international security. Developing a serious and cognitive global response to it is very important but seemingly very difficult to achieve,” he said.