Nations using terror as 'state policy' are short-sighted: Puri

UNITED NATIONS: Talking tough on terror in the backdrop of tension on the Indo-Pak border, India told UN Security Council that nations using terror as an "instrument of state policy" are "short-sighted" and have invariably themselves suffered immensely from the "Frankenstein monster."

Participating in a counter-terrorism debate presided over by Pakistan's Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, Indian envoy to the UN Hardeep Singh Puri said the fight against terrorism has to be "unrelenting and fought across all fronts".

He emphasised that the international community cannot afford selective approaches in dealing with terrorist groups or in dismantling the infrastructure of terrorism.

"Terrorism is a Frankenstein monster. Resort to the use of terrorism as an instrument of State Policy is short-sighted. Indeed, those who have taken recourse to it have invariably themselves suffered immensely from it proving the age old dictum that those who play with the sword, shall also perish by it," Puri said at the debate which was organised here yesterday by Pakistan in its capacity as the current President of the 15-nation powerful Security Council.

While India's two-year term as non-permanent member at the Council ended last month, it participated in the day-long debate. Khar shook hands and greeted Puri as she was leaving the Security Council hall at the UN headquarters during the debate.

Puri told the Council that India has faced the "scourge of terrorism" for over two-and-a-half decades with the entire South Asian region being "wracked by the activities of the biggest terrorist actors in the world, be they al-Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jamat-ud Daawa, elements of Taliban and others."

He said terrorism, extremism and radicalization continue to pose a serious challenge to peace, progress and prosperity in the region.

Puri noted that the landscape of international terrorism has undergone vast changes over the years, with terrorists becoming globalized in their outreach and activities.