India appreciates UN Security Council’s role in countering terrorism

INTERNATIONAL DESK: India has appreciated the United Nations Security Council’s role in countering transnational threats like terrorism along with preventive diplomacy and conflict prevention.

“Appreciate role in preventive diplomacy and conflict prevention, counter transnational threats like terrorism,” tweeted Pratik Mathur, Counsellor in India’s Permanent Mission to the UN.

The counsellor also expressed his concern over the instability in Afghanistan and its impact on the neighbouring countries at the United Nations Security Council on UN regional centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia in New York.

Instability in Afghanistan affects neighbours, India and Central ASIA connected by history,” the counsellor at UN tweeted.

As the drawdown of US and NATO troops is on the verge of completion, there has been a surge in violence in Afghanistan with the Taliban now claiming of controlling about half of the country’s roughly 400 districts.

Amid the turmoil in Afghanistan, President-elect of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and the current Maldives Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid on Thursday called “terrorism” a “scourge”, and said that the Security Council needs to address it soon.

“Terrorism is a scourge that has been in this region, in many parts of the world and has taken the lives of many civilians. It doesn’t know any religion, borders or humanity. It’s evil. We need to address it comprehensively. UN has been slow in coming with the definition, I hope that the definition would be reached soon,” Abdulla Shahid, who is on a visit to India, told news agency ANI.

When the President-elect of UNGA was asked about state sponsorship and support of terrorism by Pakistan, Mr Shahid said that the UN deals with terrorism issues in the Sixth Committee, the convention that has been mandated to come out of the Sixth Committee continues to be negotiated.

India had supported Mr Shahid’s candidature to the top post. This is his first visit to any country after being elected to the prestigious post on June 7.