Amidst the ongoing Ukraine-Russia war, for the first time, United Nations Security Council’s Counter Terrorism Committee (CTC) will meet in India. The two day anti-terror meet which will take place in Mumbai and New Delhi October 28 & Oct 29 will focus on the threats posed by new and emerging technologies.

The meeting in India marks the first time since 2015 that the Committee is meeting outside the UN Headquarters based in New York, US.

India is currently holding the chair of the Counter Terrorism Committee of the UNSC which was established in 2001, pursuant to the resolution 1373 of the UNSC. “Countering the use of new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes” is the title of the CTC meeting taking place in India for the first time.

What will be the focus areas?

Briefing media persons in New Delhi ahead of the two day meet, Sanjay Verma, Secretary (West), Ministry of External Affairs said that there are three focus areas including: proliferation of unmanned aerial systems, such as drones; financing for global terror networks; and Internet and social media.

What to look for?

According to Secretary Verma, there will be opening session in Mumbai and tribute will be paid to the victims of the terror attacks of 26/11. There will be a ceremony at Hotel Taj Mahal Palace, and external affairs minister Dr S Jaishankar, and 15 current members of the UNSC, incoming five and other senior officials of the UN will be present.

The meeting will be a call to all countries to stay a step ahead and put in place a system to counter the technologies used by terror outfits and to fight the scourge of terrorism together.

According to Ambassador Kamboj the scourge of terrorism was clearly a “transnational” issue. And to provide effective solutions, collaboration between Member States was crucial.

In an obvious reference to the China-Pakistan axis as well as recent instances when China has blocked India’s move to sanction some Pakistan based terrorist, Ambassador Kamboj made the point that there can be nor “good or bad terrorists” and added: “Those who propagate this distinction have an agenda and those who cover up for them are just as culpable.”

Who all are attending?

The British foreign secretary James Cleverly; UAE’s minister of state for international cooperation Reem Ebrahim Al Hashimy; foreign secretary of Gabon who is also president of the United Nations Security Council Michael Moussa ADAMO; Albania’s deputy foreign minister of Albani Megi Fino; and Ghana’s foreign minister Shirley Ayorkar Botchwey.

Also, the UN counter terror delegation headed by under-secretary general Vladimir Voronkov, will be present.

According to reports, Senior American diplomat Chris Lu will lead the US delegation and will attend both meetings in Mumbai and New Delhi.

Threat of emerging technologies

According to the UN, these emerging technologies are being increasingly used by countries across the globe for countering terrorism as well as security purposes. However, on the other hand these technologies are also being misused on regular basis by various terrorist groups for their own activities and attacking different facilities and systems.

In her remarks at the briefing in New Delhi ahead of the two day meet, Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj, Permanent Representative of India to the UN in New York, who is also the chair of the Counter Terrorism Committee, said that the meeting would reflect developments and also the latest evidence-based research on terrorism and technology use. And will also provide a platform for member states, relevant operational partners and key stakeholders to bring together real world expertise and a wealth of knowledge.

This will also be a platform to exchange ideas on how the tech sector can help in dealing with the spread of terrorist content online, and understand the manner in which this can spread of terrorist narratives can be countered.

All the member states as well as other stake holders will talk about the tech savvy terrorist who are well equipped to using technological innovations, appeals for donations, move money around through crowd funding, merchandise sales, using social platforms and various other methods.

Drones and AI

Several member states have initiated steps to counter the increasing use of drones by the terrorist outfits.

The potential use of robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), 3-D printing, synthetic biotech, unmanned aerial systems, and machine learning, for illegal ends.

The meeting will also discuss amongst themselves the misuse of information and communications technologies, especially the internet and digital platforms.