India has stated its efforts to sanction perpetrators and facilitators of the 26/11 Mumbai terror assaults have been blocked prior to now for “political reasons” that enabled them to organise additional cross-border assaults towards the nation, an obvious reference to China’s repeated strikes to dam New Delhi’s efforts to blacklist Pakistan-based terrorists on the U.N.
India’s Permanent Representative to the U.N., Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj, stated terrorism continues to pose a “grave threat” to worldwide peace and safety, as ISIS and al-Qaeda affiliated and impressed teams, notably in Asia and Africa, proceed to function and goal civilians and safety forces.
“Lest we forget, in November 2008, 10 terrorists entered the city of Mumbai through sea route from Pakistan, ravaging the city for 4 days, killing 166 people, including 26 foreign nationals,” she said on November 23 in her remarks to the U.N. Security Council Joint Briefing by the Chairs of the 1267/1373/1540 Committees to the Security Council.
Her remarks came ahead of the 14th anniversary of the 26/11 terror attacks in India’s financial capital Mumbai.
“Our efforts to sanction the perpetrators and facilitators of those terror assaults had been blocked prior to now for political causes. These actors proceed to stroll free and have been organising additional cross-border assaults towards my nation,” she stated, amid repeated holds by China on bids by India and the U.S. to designate Pakistan-based terrorists and entities.
Since June this yr, China, an all-weather ally of Pakistan, has put holds on proposals to blacklist Pakistan-based terrorists Hafiz Talah Saeed, Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Shahid Mahmood, Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist Sajid Mir, senior Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM) chief Abdul Rauf Azhar and Abdul Rehman Makki below the Al Qaeda Sanctions regime.
India and the U.S. had submitted proposals to designate the Pakistan-based terrorists and topic them to an asset freeze, journey ban and arms embargo, however they hit obstacles when Beijing positioned holds on the proposals.
The 15-nation U.N. Security Council heard briefings from Chairs of Subsidiary our bodies of the Council – the Counter-Terrorism Committee chaired by India, 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee chaired by Norway and the 1540 Committee regarding non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction chaired by Mexico.
Ms. Kamboj had briefed the Council in her capability as Chair of the 1373 Counter-Terrorism Committee.
Delivering India’s nationwide assertion on the briefing, Ms. Kamboj stated the work of the 1267 Committee depends on that of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team, which in its latest report back to 1988 Committee highlighted the continued menace posed by Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad.
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“We thank the team for its reports and hope that the team will continue to report the activities of these groups, including in its periodic reports to the 1267 Committee. While these entities were listed under the 1267 sanctions regime more than a decade back, there is a need to keep monitoring their activities as they have been allowed to operate under various aliases with state-sponsored hospitality,” Ms. Kamboj stated, in a veiled reference to Pakistan.
As the Chair of the Counter Terrorism Committee (CTC) for 2022, Ms. Kamboj stated India made “all efforts” to make sure that the Committee can ship its mandate successfully.
She stated the Government of India “had the honour to host” particular conferences of the CTC in Mumbai and New Delhi final month.
In Mumbai, the CTC members paid tribute to the victims of terrorist assaults, together with the Mumbai terror assaults, and had the chance to take heed to the victims’ expertise of assaults, tales of their resilience and their expectation from the worldwide group, together with from the U.N. Security Council.
The assembly in New Delhi highlighted the menace posed by way of new and rising applied sciences reminiscent of social media, encryption messaging providers, digital currencies, blockchain applied sciences, cell cash wallets, and drones by terrorist teams and an pressing want for the Security Council to deal with this menace in a complete and holistic method, she added.
The Delhi Declaration, adopted on the end result of the assembly, “embodies the Council’s collective determination to pay attention to this threat and further develop guidance for member states to address this threat,” Ms. Kamboj stated.
She stated India is assured that the UAE, because the incoming Chair of the CTC, would proceed to construct on these initiatives.
The CTC, prior to now yr, was capable of underscore the danger posed by the present in addition to increasing terrorist threats in Asia and Africa, and the necessity for offering capacity-building help to risk-prone member states, in addition to guaranteeing efficient actions by member states to curb the actions of terrorist teams working from the territories below their management.
“It is important that terror-risk prone jurisdictions bring their CFT (Combating Financing of Terrorism) and AML (Anti-Money Laundering) frameworks at par with the international standards, including those standards set by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF),” she stated.
She stated India commends CTC and CTED (Counter Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate) for his or her efforts to contain FATF and different such worldwide monetary ‘watchdogs’ within the actions of the CTC and CTED.
Ms. Kamboj recalled the clarion name of External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to the Security Council final yr by his 8-point motion plan, which additionally highlighted the necessity for reform of the working strategies of the Security Council Sanctions Committees with a purpose to guarantee larger transparency, accountability and effectiveness within the working of those Committees.
During the briefing, the U.S. stated that the vital work of the 1267 Al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the U.N. Security Council should stay free from politicisation that “only benefits the terrorists”.
“We can contribute to the peace and security in Africa, and internationally, by supporting U.N. listings of ISIS and al-Qaeda affiliates of their supporters that continue to pose serious threats to peace and stability in the region, and indeed globally,” Political Coordinator in U.S. Mission to the U.N. John Kelley said on Wednesday.
“Unfortunately, the 1267 Committee has solely agreed to designate one entity because the starting of this yr. The vital work of this committee should stay free from politicisation that solely advantages the terrorists,” he stated in his remarks.
Source: www.thehindu.com