Social Media, Online Payments, UAVs: Key Issues in Focus at UNSC’s Counter-terror Meet in India

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Oindrila Mukherjee

Last Updated:October 26, 2022, 22:40 IST

The overarching theme of the special meeting is the terrorist's use of new and emerging technologies, said MEA secretary (west) Sanjay Verma

The counter-terrorism committee of the UN Security Council will meet in Mumbai and Delhi on October 28 and 29. (Image for representation: Reuters/File)

The terrorist’s use of new and emerging technologies will be the overarching theme of the UN Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee, which will be hosted in Mumbai and Delhi on October 28 and 29. The special meeting will begin with a homage to the victims of the 2008 Mumbai terror attack at the Taj Mahal Palace hotel, the site of 26/11 and one of India’s worst terror attacks.

At the inaugural session in Mumbai, ways to deal with terrorist groups using the internet, new online payment mechanism and unmanned aerial systems will be discussed. The second day’s deliberations will take place in New Delhi.

India’s permanent representative to UN, counter-terrorism committee chair, Ruchira Kamboj said terrorist threats had persisted despite best efforts to thwart them. Member states have, however, made tangible progress in countering terrorism and violent extremism, she said.
Kamboj said terrorism is one of the most serious threats to international peace and security. “With growing prevalence of technology and rapid rise in digitisation, addressing use of new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes has become an issue of increasing concern," she said.
The committee will be coming together in India not only to address this issue but also to recognise technologies that can effectively aid counterterrorism efforts, Kamboj said. The rapid development and growing use of three significant technologies will be looked into: internet, including social media; new payment technologies and fundraising methods; and unmanned aerial systems, such as drones.
External affairs secretary Sanjay Verma said the larger purpose of the “unprecedented meeting" will resonate with the rest of the world because of what happened in Mumbai in 2008. The attack, he said, was on the identity of India in financial and commercial space. “A city which reflects the best of India in terms of its economic development in recent years and the fact that the UNCTC has agreed to begin its deliberations in Mumbai is a message in itself," he added.
India left behind victimhood and paved the way for the international community, particularly for UNSC, to identify the three areas of concern and brought together 15 members for the special meeting, said David Scharia, head of the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate. “We cannot think of a better place to hold this meeting than right here in India. Not just because it is the world’s largest democracy, but also because India is a society where a host of cultures and religions coexist and because India is an innovation and technology powerhouse. Sadly, India is also the right place to hold this meeting because of its own long and tragic experience with terrorism," he added.
Other objectives include identifying continuing challenges, sharing good practices in compliance with international human rights laws, industry action, public-private partnerships, and legislative, policy, and regulatory responses.
For the first time in the last seven years, the UNCTC has planned to hold a special meeting away from its headquarters. The special meeting is the first such in India since the panel’s establishment in 2001. British foreign secretary James Cleverly, external affairs minister S Jaishankar, his counterpart from Gabon, Shirley Ayorkar Botchwey, and foreign minister of Ghana Reem Ebrahim Al Hashimy are among those attending the meeting on October 28 and 29, officials said.
Scharia said the CTC should decide, under Indian leadership, that it was time to act. “Over the last few months and in the coming few days, CTC members represented at a very high level, will discuss what the shape of our response will be like," he said, adding that all agreed that for the response to be truly effective it must be global. “The members have therefore agreed to work collaboratively in tackling these issues despite many differences among and numerous other pressing global challenges."
Jaishankar, along with the member states of the UNSC (15 current and five incoming) and senior UN officials, will lay a wreath at the 26/11 memorial site in the memory of the victims. A number of family members of the victims are scheduled to speak at the ceremony. “We will be honoured to hear the voices of the victims of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks as well as the 2016 Brussels bombings. The meeting will be followed by an informal session on combating terror financing in the local and regional context," Kamboj said.
On China repeatedly blocking efforts at the UN to designate Pakistan-based terrorists, Verma, without naming any country, said the proposals ran into objections based on technicalities and subjectivities guided by “geostrategic alliances", far removed from the original cause for which the listing process was suggested. “Till we see an overhaul in the multilateral process, whether in the UN Security Council or the larger UN system, we will continue to face such challenges," he said.