A terrorist, is a terrorist: India calls for collective action to root out murderous ideology
Claiming that “a terrorist is a terrorist”, India called on the international community to work jointly to root out the “deadly ideology” without finding any grievance that would justify terrorism.
“India has been a victim of cross-border terrorism for decades. Our people have paid the price of terrorism with loss of life, injured families and shattered societies. This experience has shaped India’s approach: There can be no justification for terrorism.” “All forms and manifestations of terrorism must be unequivocally condemned, regardless of any grievance, political motive or strategic calculation,” said Permanent Representative of India to the UN Ambassador Harish Parvathaneni.
Evaluating the UN General Assembly on the adoption of the Ninth Review of the United Nations Global Counterterrorism Strategy (GCTS) on Wednesday, July 1, Parvathaneni said that the international community should reject double standards in the fight against terrorism.
He emphasized that there is an obligation to hold the perpetrators, organisers, financiers and sponsors of terrorism accountable and bring them to justice.
He said member states should ensure full cooperation on this issue.
“A terrorist is a terrorist! We must work hand in hand to root out the bloody ideology, without finding any grievance that justifies terrorism,” he said.
India said the fight against terrorism should not be hollowed out by false equivalences or politicized narratives.
“We must address the conditions that led to the spread of terrorism, but we must never confuse context with justification. We must support human rights and the rule of law, but also recognize that the first human right is the right to life, and terrorism is the most direct attack on this human right.”
India also emphasized that combating terrorist financing must remain at the center of the international community’s collective efforts.
“The international community must enhance financial intelligence sharing, strengthen enforcement of Financial Action Task Force standards, and ensure that no jurisdiction remains a safe conduit for terrorist financing.”
Noting that misuse of new and emerging technologies by terrorists requires urgent intervention, India said it was “disheartening” that negotiations on this review of GCTS failed to reach an acceptable point on the critical issue of depriving terrorists of technological tools for their nefarious acts.
India said the adoption of this review comes at an important time as Member States came together to adopt the GCTS 20 years ago.
“By doing so, the international community confirmed that terrorism is a threat to humanity and that terrorism can only be defeated through international cooperation,” he said.
India had called for the adoption of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) a decade before the GCTS was first adopted in 2006.
Mr. Parvathaneni noted that the absence of a universally accepted legal framework continues to impede collective action against terrorism.
This legal tool is necessary to close normative gaps, strengthen prosecution and extradition, and deny terrorists and their sponsors access to safe havens, funds, and weapons.
“The delay of almost three decades has hindered our collective efforts to combat terrorism. It is time to show political will to finalize the CCIT,” he said.
Underlining that India has consistently contributed to global counter-terrorism efforts and hosted important international discussions, including the Delhi Declaration and No Terrorism Conferences against the use of new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes.
India has expressed criticism over the lack of mention of the landmark Delhi Declaration in the 2023 GCTS, saying it “reflects the unfortunate situation of this House being held hostage to the little bean count! It is doubly unfortunate that the international community continues to tolerate this behaviour.”
India also reiterated its stance that it condemns all actions arising from prejudice against any belief or other attribute such as ethnicity, nationality, geography or race.
“Since this is the United Nations, a multilateral forum of universal membership, our perspective must also be universal. While condemning all actions motivated by Islamophobia, Christianphobia and antisemitism, this supreme body must recognize that such phobias extend to other faiths,” he said.
Mr. Parvathaneni emphasized that the lack of international cooperation in the fight against terrorism carries great dangers.
“Only if we have the political will to confront it in all its manifestations; As long as there are no double standards; As long as there is no distinction between good and bad terrorists.”
“The threat of terrorism can only be successfully combated if there is transparency and objectivity in the operation of sanctions regimes to ensure that only real and evidence-based objective listing proposals are listed, and exclusionary frameworks, new terminologies and false priorities are prevented,” he said.
It was published – 02 July 2026 11:17 IST
