EAM Swaraj calls for dismantling terrorist organisations support infrastructure

External Affairs Minister (EAM) Sushma Swaraj has underscored that dismantling terrorist organisations support infrastructure would be the first step in counter-terrorism strategy while calling for a joint effort to make United Nations' counter-terrorism mechanism efficient in listing terrorists and their outfits.

Swaraj's statement came at the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) Foreign Ministerial meeting held on Thursday on the sidelines of the 73rd session of United Nations General Assembly.

"BRICS Leaders have given us a robust mandate on counter terrorism at the successive BRICS Summit, including at Johannesburg Summit. We have given a call for a BRICS Counter-Terrorism Strategy for joint-action with a focus on money laundering, terrorist-finance, cyberspace and de-radicalization as our priorities. Dismantling terrorist organisations support infrastructure would be the first step. Terror groups such as Lashkar e-Taiba, ISIS, Al Qaeda, Jaish e-Muhammad, Taliban, and Haqqani Network are organized entities that thrive on State support," she said.

She further emphasised on the implementation of FATF standards, across all jurisdictions in order to strengthen international efforts in addressing terrorism.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been stressing on enhanced BRICS people-to-people exchanges. The sentiment was echoed during the Special Retreat. India will continue to work to strengthen this aspect, including in sports and fitness, and hope to hold the BRICS workshop on film technology and development. India is fully committed to UN Peacekeeping, as the largest troop contributing country in cumulative terms to UN Peacekeeping operations. BRICS and India could explore possibilities of a joint cooperation in peacekeeping training at our Centre for UN Peacekeeping in New Delhi," she said.

In the meeting, Swaraj also talked about some major challenges including sustainable development and poverty eradication.

"The 2030 Agenda, with its overarching goal of poverty eradication and the seventeen SDGs, is a matter of commitment for us to our people. Our aim is to achieve our development priorities in a sustainable manner by harnessing renewable energy and efficient use of resources. The International Solar Alliance launched by India is an example of our efforts in this direction. We will soon hold the first General Assembly of ISA in India next week," Swaraj said.

She also touched upon the conflicts in West Asia including Syria, Libya, Iraq, and Yemen and said that these conflicts pose security challenges for the region and for global peace.

Swaraj also expressed concerns about the continuing tensions on the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel. "We have recently considerably increased our contribution to UNRWA to USD 5 million. India firmly believes that the dialogue and country-led processes are the only viable options to effectively address the issues in that region," she said.

Talking about Korean peninsula, she maintained that India has been supportive of the efforts to bring about peace and stability in the region."We believe that any solution to the issue of Korean Peninsula must address concerns about the proliferation linkages with India's neighbourhood.