India has said that China’s move to block a proposal to blacklist Pakistan-based 26/11 accused terrorist Sajid Mir was motivated by “petty geopolitical interests.”
China had recently blocked a proposal moved by India and the US to blacklist Mir under the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council as a global terrorist, a move that has drawn considerable flak from India.
Speaking at the High-Level Conference on Counterterrorism, Indian diplomat Prakash Gupta slammed Pakistan for shielding terrorists and called for global counterterrorism (GCT) architecture reforms.
26/11 Attacks Shook India’s “Collective Conscience”
Emphasising India’s experiences with terrorism, Gupta said, “While 9/11 terror bombings in this iconic city of New York changed the landscape of the global counter terror architecture, the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks shook the collective conscience of world’s largest democracy.”
Gupta also highlighted the critical shortcomings of GCT architecture. Playing a recording of Mir, the mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, he asserted that justice continues to elude the victims.
The diplomat underlined that despite being listed as a proscribed terrorist under the national laws of several countries, the proposal for listing Mir did not get through the Global Listings of the UN Security Council Sanctions Regime.
“We have righteous reasons to believe that something is genuinely wrong with the global counterterrorism architecture,” the diplomat said at the meeting.
“If we cannot get established terrorists who have been banned across global landscapes proscribed by the United Nations – for petty geopolitical interests – then we really do not have the genuine political will to sincerely fight this challenge of terrorism,” Gupta remarked.
As China blocks listing of 26/11 terror attack mastermind Sajid Mir, India plays audio of Pak National at UN counter terror meet; Indian Diplomat @PrakashMEA calls the action "petty politics", & that ''something genuinely wrong with the global counter terrorism architecture" https://t.co/R6CaMxAZVj pic.twitter.com/RaMGAZPMdv
— Sidhant Sibal (@sidhant) June 21, 2023
Notion of Good Vs Bad Terrorists Self-Defeating
Targeting Pakistan for shielding terrorists, India said that 15 years after the Mumbai terror attacks, its masterminds continue to roam scot-free — with full state hospitality.
Calling differentiating between good and bad terrorists “self-defeating,” Gupta said there is a need to avoid double standards. Furthermore, the Indian diplomat commented, “A terror act is a terror act period...Any justification being used should not be countenanced upon by anybody.”
India added that the Sanctions Regime needs to improve its working methods.
Gupta reaffirmed India’s commitment to the cause by reiterating Indian PM Narendra Modi’s statement, “We consider that even a single attack is one too many and even single life lost is one too many. So, we will not rest till terrorism is uprooted.”