India asks nations summon political will to adopt CCIT

UNITED NATIONS: India today asked the global community to summon the necessary political will to adopt the Comprehensive Convention against International Terrorism ( CCIT) as the legal framework to fight against the menace.

Terming as "regrettable" the failure of the global community to conclude the convention against terrorism, Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed said, "The international community has long acknowledged the ever present and pervasive threat posed by terrorism."

"No country, city or region is immune from this global scourge," the minister said in his address on the 'Report of the Secretary-General on the Work of the Organisation' at the 67th Session of the UN General Assembly here yesterday.

Ahamed, however, said the nations have not joined forces to put in place the CCIT despite the growing threat terrorism poses to international peace and security.

"Regretfully, we have failed ourselves by continuing to procrastinate on concluding the Comprehensive Convention against International Terrorism. It is high time that member-states summoned the necessary political will to agree on the CCIT as a sound legal framework for the fight against terrorism."

He called for concerted global action, which ensures "zero tolerance" towards terrorism and is aimed at systematically dismantling the infrastructure of terrorism.

Ahamed touched upon a range of issues, from Syria to UN reforms, in his address.

Referring to the issue of the much-delayed UN reforms, Ahamed said it is India's "deep-rooted conviction" that the relevance of the United Nations ultimately hinges on more fundamental reform of its governance architecture, which is still "frozen in another era that perpetuates the rights of the haves of the mid-1940s."