India regrets UN's failure to adopt key treaty on terror

UNITED NATIONS: Expressing regret at the international community's failure to conclude a crucial treaty to fight terrorism, India today called on nations to show political will for adopting the Comprehensive Convention against International Terrorism to ensure "zero tolerance" towards the scourge.

"Terrorism remains a grave threat to security and stability everywhere and extracts a heavy toll of innocent lives around the world. From Africa to Asia we have seen several manifestations of this menace. No country, city or region is immune from this global scourge," BSP MP Satish Chandra Misra said today at the UN General Assembly session on 'Report of the Secretary-General on the Work of the Organisation'.

Misra added that "regretfully, we have failed ourselves by continuing to procrastinate on concluding the Comprehensive Convention against International Terrorism (CCIT).

"It is time that member-states summoned the necessary political will to agree on the CCIT as a sound legal-framework for the fight against terrorism. We need concerted global action. Such action should be predicated on 'zero tolerance' towards terrorism and aimed at systematically dismantling the infrastructure of terrorism," he said.

Misra is part of a team of Parliamentarians visiting the world body here to participate in various UNGA sessions.

Touching upon the issue of peacekeeping and India's contribution to UN operations, Misra said it is crucial that those who threaten and attack UN peacekeepers are held accountable.

"Cases where UN peacekeepers have laid down their lives due to attacks by militias and non state actors must be thoroughly investigated and perpetrators of such acts brought to justice expeditiously," he added.

Over 150,000 of India's uniformed-personnel have participated in various UN peacekeeping operations across the world.

He said as peacekeeping moves forward, the international community must remain mindful of the challenges of operating in increasingly complex environments.

"Not only should the mandates be realistic but their framing should be inclusive of all stakeholders in a meaningful manner. Ambitious mandates require matching resources. We also need to be mindful of peacekeepers' safety while crafting these mandates," he said.