India’s strives for Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism
India has long tried to push the world’s attention toward international terrorism and with this in mind, New Delhi had put forward a draft on “Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism” to the General Assembly in 1996. The South Asian nation recognised the need to combat international terrorism long before 9/11 shook the developed world and it woke to the threats posed by non-state actors. New Delhi sees terrorism as something which can only be tackled through a sustained, long term and global effort and battling it is not limited to seizing the perpetrators, but actions also need to be taken against those who sponsor the crime.
India’s Historical push for the Convention:
In 1996, New Delhi piloted a draft for international convention on suppression of terrorism in the United Nations General Assembly, the goal was to point out how threatening terrorism is whether it be in form of state backing or by non-state actors without such a support. Herein the idea was that those who finance terrorism also need to be held accountable apart from the culprits.
On April 14, 1997, India along with 27 member states sponsored a draft resolution on human rights and terrorism which was adopted in 1999. The resolution condemned all acts of terrorism and aggression which are directed at destroying human rights and it called upon the states to prevent, combat as well as eliminate terrorism in all its forms. Along with that, it also urged the international community to strengthen cooperation at regional and the international level.
The then South Asian power presented a draft text urging member states to undertake efforts designed to prevent terrorist from acquiring weapons of mass destruction. The resolution was one of the nine draft resolutions approved by the disarmament committee on 25 October 2002. In the 77th plenary meeting held on 18 December 2002, a draft resolution was co-sponsored on Hostage Taking which recognised that such instances continue unabated despite efforts by the international community and called upon the states to take necessary action.
In 2006, the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy was launched which is built to obstruct terrorism at national, regional and the international level. New Delhi supported and joined the living document which is reviewed every two years. The general assembly will be holding a plenary meeting on 28-29 June this year and may adopt a resolution regarding the strategy for the same.
Furthermore, in a speech to the United Nations general assembly in 2016, the then External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj urged the global community to adopt the long-pending treaty to fight terrorism through a coordinated global effort. She also spoke about how the challenges of 21st century need to be tackled with 21st century solutions, instead of remaining stuck in the world of 1945 which was designed to serve the interest of the victors of the Second World War.
In September 2019, BRICS countries pushed for the adoption of comprehensive convention on international terrorism during the annual meeting on the edge of the 74th annual session of the general assembly. The joint statement reiterated India’s stance on the issue which is to condemn terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.
Deadlock and achievements yielded So far:
The first deadlock is the fact that there are competing definitions of what constitutes terrorism meaning which acts of political violence comes under it and which are excluded. The US, Organization of Islamic countries (OIC) and Latin Americans have opposed the approval of the agreement as they have different outlook on what can be considered an act of terror.
US does not see acts of the armed forces committed during peacetime as under the purview of terrorism. OIC does not judge national liberation movements as terrorist activity considering the Israel-Palestine and the Kashmir conflict. Latin Americans are visibly concerned about issues such as state surveillance and interception of communications which they see as negatively impacting human rights.
Despite diverging views three important protocols have been instituted. Firstly, international convention on suppression of terrorist bombings which was adopted on 15 December 1997. Secondly, international convention on suppression of the financing of terrorism enacted on 9 December 1999. Thirdly, international convention for the suppression of acts of nuclear terrorism approved on 13 April 2005.
The 1996 draft was modified in 2013 to address ‘US concerns with regards to its wars in the Middle east’ and ‘OIC which is concerned about how the act will affect the Israel Palestine conflict’. In 2016, General assembly recommend that the 6th ad hoc committee would be working to finalise the draft of the convention but there has been no progress till now.
Why is India pushing for the convention?
India has long been a victim of terror attacks, long before the developed world took cognizance of attacks led by non-state actors. The terror attacks have taken place repeatedly throughout the last thirty years. For instance, the first major terror attack took place in Mumbai on 12 March 1993 in which series of 12 bombs were detonated leading to the death of about 300 people and about 1500 were gravely injured.
The second attack took place in the Parliament on 13 December 2001 when members of Lashkar-e-Taiba (Let) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) open fired which led to the death of 9 people. Next a bomb blast in the national capital came to pass on 25 October 2005 which was conducted by Let in which about 66 people lost their lives and more than 200 were critically injured. The following year Let orchestrated a series of bomb blast on Mumbai trains during rush hour leading to 209 fatalities and 700 wounded.
In 2008 Jaipur bomb blast cropped up where a series of 9 bombs were utilised by the terrorist forces which brought about the death of 80 people and more than 170 people were bruised. Following this attack, the infamous 26/11 attack arose where Let based terrorist coordinated to conduct a combined shoot and bomb operation in which 166 were killed and over 300 maimed.
8 years later in 2016 attack on the Indian army base was organised by JeM in which 17 soldiers were eliminated and 20 more killed in the aftermath of the battle between the two armed forces. More recently in 2019, the Pulwama attack which is arguably called the deadliest terror attack, was masterminded by the JeM in which 40 Central Reserve Police Force personnel were assassinated. These are some of the most famous terrorist incidents taking place across India.
They are the principal reason why the Indo-Pacific power is pushing for a comprehensive convention on international terrorism designed to hold not only the perpetrators but also those who sponsor such attacks accountable. The convention on international terrorism would enable New Delhi to counter such operations through a coordinated global effort which is essential to eliminate it from the grassroot.
Conclusion:
New Delhi has encountered repeated terror attacks in the last 30 years beginning with the 1993 Bombay blast and 2019’s Pulwama attack is neoteric as far as terror attacks are concerned. It is the principal reason, the south Asian nation turned Indo-Pacific power has been advocating for a comprehensive convention on international terrorism since 1996 when it first proposed a draft. However, due to varying stance on the definition of terrorism as described above, there has been no progress with respect to a global agreement built to tackle terrorism collectively.
The realpolitik has prevented the world thus far from agreeing on a universal interpretation of terrorism. For instance, US, OIC member states and the Latin Americans have blocked India’s attempt to push for the agreement as they seek to protect their strategic interests. As a non-permanent member of the Security Council, New Delhi will push for the key accord which is essential to eliminate the menace of terrorism from the grassroot.
End Notes
2)https://mea.gov.in/Portal/ForeignRelation/India_UN_2020.pdf
3)file:///C:/Users/user/Desktop/A_C.6_55_1-EN.pdf
4)https://idsa.in/event/IndiainGlobalGovernance_aanant
5)https://www.un.org/press/en/1997/19970414.hrcn800.html
6)http://www.worldlii.org/int/other/UNGA/2002/291.pdf
7)https://www.un.org/press/en/2002/gadis3240.doc.htm
9)https://www.un.org/en/ga/sixth/75/pdfs/statements/int_terrorism/01mtg_india.pdf
12)https://journalsofindia.com/comprehensive-convention-on-international-terrorism/
16)https://legal.un.org/committees/terrorism/
17)https://mea.gov.in/Speeches-Statements.htm?dtl/32736
Pic Courtesy-Levi Meir Clancy at unsplash.com
(The views expressed are those of the author and do not represent the views of CESCUBE.)
