United Nations: India today asked the global community to summon the necessary political will to adopt the Comprehensive Convention against International Terrorism (CCIT) as the legal framework to fight against the menace.
Terming as “regrettable” the failure of the global community to conclude the convention against terrorism, Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed said, “The international community has long acknowledged the ever present and pervasive threat posed by terrorism.”
“No country, city or region is immune from this global scourge,” the minister said in his address on the ‘Report of the Secretary-General on the Work of the Organisation’ at the 67th Session of the UN General Assembly here yesterday.
India urged UN countries to adopt the CCIT. Representational image.
Ahamed, however, said the nations have not joined forces to put in place the CCIT despite the growing threat terrorism poses to international peace and security. ”Regretfully, we have failed ourselves by continuing to procrastinate on concluding the Comprehensive Convention against International Terrorism. It is high time that member-states summoned the necessary political will to agree on the CCIT as a sound legal framework for the fight against terrorism.”
He called for concerted global action, which ensures ”zero tolerance” towards terrorism and is aimed at systematically dismantling the infrastructure of terrorism. Ahamed touched upon a range of issues, from Syria to UN reforms, in his address.
Referring to the issue of the much-delayed UN reforms, Ahamed said it is India’s “deep-rooted conviction” that the relevance of the United Nations ultimately hinges on more fundamental reform of its governance architecture, which is still “frozen in another era that perpetuates the rights of the haves of the mid-1940s”.
Ahamed emphasised that governance reform is the only way in which the UN can invigorate action on issues of pressing global concern, including peace and security, climate change, development and human rights.
He lamented that the issue of Security Council reform has not been mentioned in the UN Chief Ban Ki-moon’s report on the work of the organisation. Intergovernmental negotiations on UNSC reforms have seen much movement and a clear affirmation by an overwhelming majority of the member-states for expansion in both the permanent and non-permanent categories, he said.
India regards the omission of the progress made in the intergovernmental negotiations on the issue as a “significant drawback” of the Secretary-General’s report, the minister said.
“We further hope to see it corrected in future reports. In terms of the process itself, India looks forward to capitalising on the momentum so far to see real, fruitful and productive negotiations in the current session of the General
Assembly on this important reform,” he added.
On Syria he expressed India’s concern at the escalating crisis in the country.
“We support UN efforts to find a solution to the crisis through dialogue and an inclusive, Syrian-led political process,” he said.
Referring to the situation in Palestine, he said it is regrettable that the question of Palestine remains unresolved. ”We support (Palestine’s) request for an enhanced status at the United Nations.
“India firmly supports the aspirations of the Palestinian people to achieve a sovereign, independent, viable and united state of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital, living within secure and recognised borders, side by side and at peace with Israel,” Ahamed said.
On UN peacekeeping missions, Ahamed said nations must remain mindful of the challenges faced by peacekeeping forces of operating in increasingly complex environments.
He said particular attention needs to be paid to ensuring that complex mandates are matched by adequate resources to enable the peacekeepers to complete their mandates safely and effectively.
He stressed the importance for effective and continuous consultation with Troop-Contributing Countries in framing and implementing mandates. Noting that India has contributed over 130,000 personnel to UN peacekeeping missions, Ahamed said “it is also not lost on us that to be enduringly successful, peacekeeping requires to be seamlessly dovetailed with peace-building efforts.”
The UN needs to pay better attention to evolving a cogent and coherent peace-building framework that takes into account the capacities at hand and the complexities on the ground, he added.
On climate change, he said India would work with other nations to design a comprehensive, equitable and balanced outcome at the upcoming Conference of Parties at Doha, Qatar.
PTI
