United Nations, November 11 (IANS) India has brought to the attention of the Security Council that Pakistan is sending arms to terrorists across the border, including through the use of drones, and demanded that the Security Council maintain zero tolerance towards terrorism and its sponsors.
“India has suffered from cross-border terrorism perpetrated through the illegal arms trade across our borders, now including through the use of drones,” India's Permanent Representative P. Harish said on Monday.
“The increase in the size and complexity of such arsenals reminds us that these groups cannot support themselves without being empowered, funded or supported,” he said.
Harish, speaking at a Security Council open debate on small arms, did not name Pakistan, but it was clear who he was referring to.
“The Security Council must continue to adopt a zero-tolerance approach to terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, and to those who facilitate, sponsor, finance or enable the use and movement of such weapons,” he said.
He said: “India has been fighting the scourge of terrorism for several decades and is therefore aware of the dangers posed by the diversion and illicit transfer of small arms and ammunition to armed non-state actors and terrorist groups.”
Sierra Leone's Foreign Minister Alhaji Musa Timothy Kabba, who chaired the meeting, called for effective arms embargoes to be consistently enforced to prevent the proliferation of small arms.
He said that “the small arms trade is often considered one of the least transparent weapons systems of any kind, with an estimated 850 million small arms in circulation worldwide – about 650 million of them in civilian hands.”
He said it was essential to prevent terrorists from obtaining weapons.
In addition to addressing the dangers posed by the nexus of terrorists and transnational criminal networks working together, exploiting porous borders and weak regulatory mechanisms, attention should also be paid to “emerging threats such as hand-made and 3D-printed firearms.”
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned in his report to the Council of the new threats posed by terrorists using 3D printing technology to produce weapons.
The Counterterrorism Committee's Executive Directorate “has identified the production of 3D-printed small arms and light weapons, parts and components by terrorists as an emerging problem,” he said.
“Member states are encouraged to take measures to regulate through national legislation digital blueprints and the electronic exchange of designs and construction data for the illegal manufacture of firearms and components,” he added.
–IANS
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