Statement by Ambassador Asoke Kumar Mukerji, Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations in the UN General Assembly Biennial Review of UN Global Counter Terrorism Strategy, on 12 June 2014

PR of India addressing the UN General Assembly at the GCTS General Debate

Mr President,

1. My delegation would like to thank you for scheduling this meeting, at the conclusion of which we will be adopting the Resolution No. A/68/L.50 of the General Assembly on the implementation of the United Nations Global Counter Terrorism Strategy. We would like to express our thanks to our distinguished colleague, Ambassador Halit Cevik of Turkey, for having so ably facilitated the adoption of our consensus Resolution this year.

2. On this occasion, my delegation would like to join others in expressing our shock at the attack by terrorists on a diplomatic post of Turkey in Iraq yesterday. Since the beginning of this year alone, such wanton terrorist acts have sought to rend asunder the fabric of life in many of our countries, including Afghanistan, Belgium, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Kenya, Madagascar, Nigeria, Pakistan, the People s Republic of China, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen. We particularly feel the pain and anger of our distinguished Turkish colleague today, reminded as we are of a similar heinous act of terrorism executed recently against India s diplomatic post in Herat, Afghanistan less than a month ago.

Mr President,

3. We have been actively engaged under your leadership in setting the stage for the post-2015 Development Agenda. We have been reviewing many initiatives taken by us collectively here in the United Nations to strengthen, diversify and reform this unique multilateral institution, founded by us almost 70 years ago. In the context of this ambitious collective endeavor, we strongly believe, on the basis of empirical and emotional evidence, that no condition can ever justify or excuse any act of terrorism, and nor can there be any recourse to any conducive   conditions to explain such inhuman wilful acts of destruction. We therefore strongly believe, Mr President, that when commemorating its 70th anniversary next year, the United Nations must reiterate upfront its commitment to zero tolerance of terrorism, in all its forms.

Mr President,

4. The main strength and relevance of the United Nations is its treaty based character. India, as a founder of the United Nations under Article 3 of the UN Charter, takes special pride in having contributed significantly over these almost seven decades to this strength. All these efforts of ours, however, come to naught if we are being constantly derailed by the threat and challenge of terrorism.

5. India was among those countries which identified, almost twenty years ago, the need for the United Nations, as the repository of codified international law, to build a holistic legal architecture that would address the global threat posed by terrorism. Since 1996, when we began negotiating such a legal instrument, terrorism has metastasized like a virulent form of cancer into a trans-national monster. We cannot afford our usual glacial pace of negotiations to put in place the legal structure we need to counter terrorism, which infects all the pillars of our United Nations system - international peace, security, development and human rights.

Mr President,

6. India s initiative in proposing in the General Assembly the idea of a Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) came out of the extensive debates all of us participated in at that time. It also came from our historic role, even before the United Nations was founded, in negotiating, signing and ratifying the 1937 Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of Terrorism under the League of Nations. Unfortunately, due to the outbreak of the Second World War, this Convention did not enter into force.

7. I recall this background today because the grief on the faces of our colleagues from many countries impacted by terrorism compels us to focus on the urgent need to conclude and adopt the CCIT. As has been agreed in the Ad Hoc Working Group of the Sixth Committee, which is drafting this instrument, without the CCIT, there exists a major legal lacuna in enabling effective international cooperation in the prosecution of terrorism. When terrorism is unanimously acknowledged as a major trans-national threat, and in view of the fact that all of us reaffirm that terrorism cannot and should not be associated with any religion, nationality, civilization or ethnic group  , the time has surely come to agree to bridge our differences in defining what terrorism is. The time has come, in fact, for all of us, including colleagues from those countries who are now facing the brunt of terrorist acts themselves, to agree to conclude the CCIT by the date we mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations in September 2015.

Mr President,

8. We have participated actively in the deliberations and drafting of the General Assembly Resolution which will be adopted by consensus at the end of this meeting. This Resolution is a substantive review, as required by GA Resolution 66/282 of 29 June 2012, of how we in the United Nations have progressed in implementing our Global Counter Terrorism Strategy, adopted in September 2006.

9. As the Resolution we are going to adopt shows, we are all acutely aware of the challenges that lie ahead. Emerging new threats, evolving trends of international terrorism, the abuse of information and communication technologies, all of which are vulnerabilities of an increasingly globalized international community, require us to become more dynamic and responsive in our responses. Member States who have to confront such threats, old and new, in a more immediate context, have already taken such measures.

10. India, for example, has taken important steps towards strengthening its strategic, legal and operational framework in the fight against terrorism. Our laws incorporate provisions dealing with all aspects of terrorism including conspiracy and incitement to terrorism. They criminalize the raising of funds for terrorist activities, holding of proceeds of terrorism, harboring of terrorists, unauthorized possession or use of any bomb, dynamite or hazardous explosive substance or other lethal weapons.

11. India has concluded more than forty bilateral treaties on extradition and mutual legal assistance in criminal matters. We have more than two dozen joint working groups with Member States, including with all our P5 partners, in counter terrorism. India is a member of other inter-governmental initiatives taken to counter terrorism, such as the Global Counter Terrorism Forum, the Financial Action Task Force, and the Eurasia Group. We stand ready to share our national experience in countering terrorism with interested Member States.

Mr President,

12. Turning now to the assistance given to Member States by the UN Secretariat in implementing the Global Counter Terrorism Strategy. The distinguished Secretary General s Report A/68/841 dated 14 April 2014 is a very interesting document. At the outset, we must note that the work of counter terrorism in the Secretariat is being implemented in parts by 31 entities. However, there is no one point of coordination for all these activities. In this context, we see merit in considering the proposal of a Counter-terrorism Coordinator.

13. Among the improvements since our last review in 2012, the Report highlights the activity of the Counter Terrorism Implementation Task Force, or CTITF. We note that the major outcome and focus of the CTITF s activity is in the area of capacity building. A second major development is the work of the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Centre or UNCCT. India as a member of the Advisory Board of the UNCCT notes with appreciation the attempts being made to prioritize its capacity building and awareness-raising activities, especially among Member States in Africa. As we have stated in the meetings of the Advisory Board, the UNCCT should engage more actively with Member States through a structured discussion on how it can be more relevant to the efforts of Member States in implementing the four pillars of the Global Counter Terrorism Strategy. By doing so, the UNCCT will be better placed to utilize its regular budget allocations, as well as the very generous grant of US$ 100 million to it announced by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in August 2013.

14. The Report, however, is troubling in some of its assertions, particularly in the analysis in paragraphs 10 to 19 dealing with Developments in International Terrorism  . Similarly, we see the necessity to discuss how to overcome the issues mentioned in paragraphs 33 to 37, dealing with the challenges of preventing and resolving conflicts, and paragraphs 74 and 75 on the operation of the Sanctions Regime mandated by UNSCR 1267.We have a special interest in paragraphs 97 and 98, which propose initiatives with regard to the victims of terrorism. We note with great concern the views in paragraph 104 that despite the existence of the Global Strategy and efforts of Member States, the threat of terrorism has not been effectively countered.

15. Due to all these reasons, Mr. President, my delegation would strongly urge that the 69th Session of the General Assembly have an extensive discussion of the shortcomings of the Global Strategy, which we can report to our leaders who will meet here in New York in September 2015 to commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the United Nations.We make this proposal because of the fact that the Global Strategy itself was mandated by our leaders at the 2005 60th Anniversary Summit of our Organization, and it would be most appropriate for us to provide them with such an assessment for their due consideration, when they are adopting the Post-2015 Development Agenda.

Thank you.