India facing 'serious challenge' of cross-border supply of illicit weapons using drones

United Nations: India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj said India is facing a “serious challenge” of cross-border supply of illicit weapons using drones, which cannot be possible without active support from State authorities.

She was speaking at the UN Security Council’s open debate on “Threats to International Peace and Security: Risks Stemming from Violations of Agreements Regulating the Exports of Weapons and Military Equipments” on Monday. The event was held under Russia’s Presidency of the Council for the month of April.

Kamboj asserted that “certain states with dubious proliferation credentials” that collude with terrorists should be held accountable for their “misdeeds”.

“The export of weapons and military equipment in violation of international law, exacerbating geo-political tensions, cannot be ignored,” she said.

She said that the quantum of these threats multiplies when “certain states with dubious proliferation credentials, in view of their masked proliferation networks and deceptive procurement practices of sensitive goods and technologies, collude with terrorists and other non-state actors.

“For example, the rise in volume and the quality of the small arms acquired by terrorist organisations remind us time and again that they cannot exist without the sponsorship or support of States,” Kamboj said.

Kamboj said that in India’s context, “we are facing a serious challenge of cross-border supply of illicit weapons using drones, which cannot be possible without active support from the authorities in control of those territories,” an apparent reference to Pakistan.

Pakistani drones carrying arms and drugs have been shot down very often by India’s Border Security Force (BSF). The most recent incident was reported on April 1 when the BSF said its troops opened fire at a suspected Pakistani drone along the International Border in Jammu. It was the second such incident since mid March.

Kamboj called on the international community to “condemn such behaviour and hold such states accountable for their misdeeds.”

(With inputs from PTI)

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