Need to send tough message against terror: Modi to UN

The historic 70th year of the UN must be used to send an “unambiguous message” of “zero tolerance against terrorism”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said, citing the threats posed by “non-state military actors”, in a letter to UN chief Ban Ki-moon.

“The United Nations must be made more effective for dealing with the new security challenges. The United Nations was born out of the ashes of the Second World War when <g data-gr-id="24">conflict</g> was an <g data-gr-id="23">inter-state</g> phenomenon. 

“However, we are now living in an era when non-state military actors are a major factor,” Modi said in a veiled reference to threats posed to India from Pakistan.

He also called for the adoption of a comprehensive convention against international terrorism this year. The letter dated July 4 was made available by India’s Permanent Mission to the UN during a press briefing here yesterday.

Modi arrives at the world body’s headquarters in about a week to address the high-level Sustainable Development Summit on September 25. In the letter, Modi said terrorism and violent, intolerant extremism did not exist earlier as a primary threat to nations and societies at large.

“Indeed, with expanded geographical spread, vast resources and new instruments to spread its ideology and draw recruits, the menace of terrorism and extremism has acquired a new dimension that requires a comprehensive global strategy. “We must use this historic year to jointly send an unambiguous message of zero tolerance against terrorism. “An important step in this direction would be adopting the Comprehensive Convention against International Terrorism at the United Nations this year,” the Indian leader writes in the letter.