No Justification for Terrorism: India Urges Global Unity Against Murderous Ideology
India has called on the international community to collectively work towards eradicating terrorism, asserting that there can be no justification for such acts. Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, India's Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Harish Parvathaneni, stressed that the world must reject double standards in counter-terrorism efforts.
“India has been a victim of cross-border terrorism for decades. Our people have paid the price of terrorism in lives lost, families scarred, and societies shattered. This experience has shaped India's approach: there can be no justification for terrorism,” Mr. Parvathaneni said during the adoption of the Ninth Review of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy (GCTS).
He emphasised that the international community must hold perpetrators, organisers, financiers and sponsors of terrorism accountable and bring them to justice. “A terrorist is a terrorist!! We must work hand in hand to root out the murderous ideology without finding any grievance to justify terrorism,” he added.
India also cautioned against politicising counter-terrorism efforts. “Counter-terrorism should not be hollowed out by false equivalences or politicised narratives. We must address the conditions conducive to the spread of terrorism, but we must never confuse context with justification,” Mr. Parvathaneni stated.
Highlighting the importance of human rights, he said, “We must uphold human rights and the rule of law, but we must also recognise that the first human right is the right to life, and terrorism is the most direct assault on this human right.”
India called for stronger action against terror financing, urging the international community to improve financial intelligence sharing and strengthen implementation of Financial Action Task Force standards. “No jurisdiction should remain a safe conduit for terror financing,” Mr. Parvathaneni stressed.
The ambassador also expressed disappointment over the lack of consensus in the GCTS negotiations regarding the misuse of new and emerging technologies by terrorists. He noted that it is “disheartening” that the review could not reach an acceptable landing point on denying terrorists technological tools for their nefarious acts.
India reiterated its call for the adoption of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT), a legal framework that has been under discussion for nearly three decades. “The absence of a universally agreed legal framework continues to hobble collective action against terrorism. This legal instrument is essential to close normative gaps, strengthen prosecution and extradition, and deny terrorists and their sponsors access to safe havens, funds and arms,” Mr. Parvathaneni said.
He noted that India has consistently contributed to global counter-terrorism efforts, including hosting the Delhi Declaration on countering the use of new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes and the No Money for Terror Conferences. India criticised the GCTS for not mentioning the Delhi Declaration in its 2023 review, calling it a reflection of the Assembly being “held hostage to petty bean counting.”
