India today sought an early conclusion of the comprehensive convention against global terrorism by the UN which will provide a legal framework that can supplement the existing conventions to deal with scourge.
Terrorist attacks in different parts of the world point not only to the all pervasive and global nature of terrorism but reinforces the belief that terrorism continues to be the biggest threat to the world at present, India's Permanent Representative to the UN Hardeep Singh Puri said.
"Therefore, if not challenged effectively and collectively, this monster would continue to rear its ugly head and wreak havoc time and again," he added in his speech at a UN meeting on "Measures to Eliminate International Terrorism" held at the UN headquarters in New York.
Puri said the fight against terrorism demands effective international cooperation so that those who are responsible, whoever they are and wherever they may be, are brought to book. "If the most dangerous terrorist groups have found ways to operate on a global scale, so must efforts to thwart them," he argued.
The terrorist networks, he said, draw on their collective strengths to exploit to maximum advantage the targeted governments' and international community's inadequate and uncoordinated responses.
"Denying these groups funding, refuge, communications, movement, access, training, means, and most importantly, recruits and legitimacy therefore requires concerted international effort," Puri said.
Referring to the Mumbai terrorist attack, he added, it was conducted like a commando operation. Each terrorist was armed and equipped with sophisticated weapons and communication equipment. Innocent passengers including women and children were mowed down by bullets at the railway station and public places; hostages were taken in hotels and subsequently massacred.
"It is not without significance that this was the first terrorist attack in India in which foreigners were specifically segregated and targeted. This orgy of violence, which played on TV screens around the world for four days, led to the loss of 164 lives," he said.
Several other locations around the world have similarly been targets of terrorist attacks resulting in death of scores of innocents and destruction of property, Puri validated.
Noting that 13 UN Conventions and Protocols remain fundamental tools that contribute to the fight against terrorism, he said given its comprehensive scope, the comprehensive convention against international would be another fundamentally important instrument that will bolster the international community's capacity to fight all types of terrorism and enable it to bring perpetrators of such crimes to justice.
