UN Security Council’s (UNSC) Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) Meet In India Adopted Delhi Declaration

Focus on countering the use of new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes

UN Security Council’s (UNSC) Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) meet held in India on 28^th and 29^th October, 2022 in Mumbai and Delhi. UNSC, the 15 Members top body, under UN Charter is having the primary responsibility to maintain international peace and security (Article 24).

Affirming that “terrorism remains one of the greatest threats to humanity”, India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar emphasized on tackling the use of technology by terrorist organizations around the globe. The uses of high end technological are recalibrating the dynamics of terrorism, chaos and complications. Shri. S Jaishankar disclosed that India will make a voluntary contribution of $0.5 million to the UN Trust Fund for Counter Terrorism to enhance the capacity of the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT).

External Affair Minister emphasized that possible misuse of modern tool like encrypted messaging and crypto-currency by “non-state actors”. The Minister recollected the events unfolding around 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks in which Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) was used.

UAE’s Minister of State for International Cooperation Reem Ebrahim Al-Hashimy and British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly echoed the same concerns.

Prior to the meeting UNSC – Counter Terrorism Committee (UNSC-CTC) in its official website highlighted that, “With the prevalence of technology and the rapid rise in digitization, the use of new and emerging technologies to counter terrorism is a topic of growing interest among Member States, policymakers and researchers, particularly in the context of the increasing role played by technology in terrorism and counter-terrorism”.

Mr. David Scharia is presently heading the global body’s counter-terrorism unit.

The two day meeting of United Nations Security Council in India adopted “Delhi Declaration” that essentially focused “Countering the use of new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes”.

Delivered the keynote address at the plenary session of UNSC special meeting of counter-terrorism committee on ‘Countering the use of new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes’ in New Delhi today. pic.twitter.com/1rIVnAvSwe

— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) October 29, 2022

Delhi Declaration on countering the use of new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes affirmed that:

terrorism in all forms and manifestations constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security, and that any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable regardless of their motivations, whenever, wherever, and by whomsoever committed, and remains determined to contribute further to enhancing the effectiveness of the overall effort to fight this scourge on a global level.

Recognizes that innovations in financial technologies, products and services, such as virtual assets and new financial instruments, including, but not limited to, crowd funding platforms, may offer economic opportunities but also present a risk of being misused, including for terrorist-financing.

Decides to work on recommendations on the three themes of the CTC special meeting, namely “Countering Terrorist Exploitation of ICT and Emerging Technologies”, “Threats and opportunities related to new payment technologies and fundraising methods” and “Threats posed by misuse of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) by terrorists”

The  Delhi Declaration, 2022 is attached herewith: