By Arul Louis
United Nations, June 27 (IANS) India says it is disappointed with the Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy (GCTS) resolution adopted by the General Assembly because it fails to advance "meaningful" international cooperation against terrorism.
"It is disappointing to see the lack of meaningful progress even in a GCTS resolution language, which continues to reflect the inability of member states to act collectively to tackle the threats from non-state actors," India's Deputy Permanent Representative Tanmaya Lal said Tuesday after the Assembly unanimously adopted the resolution.
"While most of the membership represented here has experienced terror attacks, at the UN we continue to struggle to advance meaningful multilateral cooperation on countering terrorism, often due to narrow political considerations," he said.
India did not oppose the resolution and went along with the consensus in the Assembly as Lal noted, "Any multilateral resolution has to strike a balance and a compromise."
But India was disappointed that it has neither taken into account the developments since the previous GCTS resolution was adopted two years ago nor provided for more unified international action against terrorism.
"In the intervening period of two years terrorist networks have continued to terrorise peoples across different parts of the world, expanding their reach, propagating their ideologies of hate, recruiting across borders, raising funds and improving their use of modern technologies," he said.
Assembly President Miroslav Lajcak, who introduced the resolution defended it saying that this "Global Strategy is not a global solution" and is "not a magic formula."
"Because terrorism is very complex, a one-size-fits-all approach would never work," he added.
The nine-page resolution deals with addressing conditions that are "conducive" to spread of terrorism, and helping countries develop capacities to combat terrorism, besides the generalities like condemning terrorism and apprehending and prosecuting terrorists.
Lajcak warned, "We cannot afford to underestimate the threat facing us" and there was no room for complacency because the Islamic State (IS) is weaker now than two years ago and controls smaller territory.
He said: "ISIS, Al-Qaida and their affiliates have shown that they do not represent a traditional security threat. They use methods we could only have imagined, in our worst nightmares. They have broken all laws of humanity. And they have proven themselves to be able to adapt, to new contexts and situations."
(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in)
