Mumbai (India); 28 October: On the first day of United Nations Security Council’s (UNSC) two-day meet on Friday, India’s External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar and UNSC delegates paid tribute to victims of the deadly 26/11 attacks in Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, Mumbai.
The informal session of United Nations Security Council (UNSC)-Counter Terrorism Committee (CTC) began with a video on the Mumbai attacks and testimonies of some survivors of 26/11 attack.
Recalling the Mumbai terror attack at the UNSC counter-terrorism meet, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that the 26/11 attack will never be forgotten.
“We, in India, understand [terrorism’s] cost more than others. But with that experience comes the steeling of national resolve. Decades of cross-border terror has not and will not weaken our commitment to fight back,” Dr S Jaishankar said.
The session was also addressed by Gabon foreign minister Michael Moussa Adamo, whose country is the current president of the Security Council, Ghana foreign minister Shirley Ayorkar Botchwey, UAE minister of state for international cooperation Reem Ebrahim Al Hashimy, Vladimir Tarabrin, the special representative of the Russian foreign minister for counter-terrorism, France’s special envoy for counter-terrorism Olivier Caron, Ireland ambassador Brendan Ward, Kenya high commissioner Willy Bett, Mexican ambassador Frederico Salas Lotfe, and China’s vice consul general in Mumbai, Wang Yanhua.
Diplomats and senior officials from Brazil, Malta, Mozambique, Ecuador, Japan, Switzerland and UN under secretary general Vladimir Voronkov also spoke, with most of them focusing on the need to counter terror financing.
During the session, Ghana Foreign Minister, Shirley Ayorkar Botchwey reiterated that every country has right to act against any country from where the terrorism is being emanated.
If a country is aware of where terrorism are coming from and has evidence too, I think that the country has every right to deal with it. We know the attacks are coming from West Africa so we are dealing with it accordingly,” said Botchwey at the UNSC – CTC meeting in Mumbai.
Meanwhile, Reem Al Hashimy, UAE Minister of State addressing the UNSC-CTC meet mentioned Houthi attacks in her country and said, “terror knows no border and shatters laws.”
Recently, a suspected drone attack in Abu Dhabi, the capita of United Arab Emirates (UAE), caused multiple explosions in which two Indians were also killed.
The Shia Houthis rebels of Yemen, who have been controlling the northern parts of the country including the capital Sana’a. Yemen – One of the poorest country of Arab region has been devastated by nearly seven year civil war.
On the first day of United Nations Security Council’s (UNSC) -CTC meeting, USA also participated virtually. Through, a recoded video, US Secretary of State Antony Blinked said, “We have the responsibility to victims to bring justice to perpetrators of Mumbai Attack including the mastermind.”
UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly also paid tribute to India’s leadership in the fight against terrorism and said, “we must do to prevent attacks like the one that happened in Mumbai.”
However, UNSC President for October and Gabon Foreign Minister Michael Moussa Adamo raised the issue of terror funding while addressing at UNSC-CTC delegates.
Adamo said, “Terrorists must be deprived of resources.”
It is pertinent to note that many Indian officials raised the issue of delisting Pakistan from the Financial Action Task Force(FATF) grey list.
Due to FATF’s Greylisting of Pakistan earlier, cross border terrorist bases reduced by almost 75 percent , but now have surged up by 50 percent. And We expect scale up in terror attacks, an Indian official- Saif Rizvi, additional Secretary in Ministry of Home Affairs said.
India is currently in the final months of a two-year stint as a non-permanent member of the Security Council and it is also the chair of the CTC till December. It is hosting a special meeting of the CTC – only the eighth time such a meet has been held outside the UN headquarters in New York – and the formal session in New Delhi on Saturday will focus on countering the use of new technologies by terrorists.
The second day of the UNSC meeting will be held in the national capital Delhi on Saturday. Chinese diplomats will also participate in these meetings.
