Must work together to starve terrorists of funds: UK Foreign Secretary
Oct 29, 2022
New Delhi [India], October 29 : UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly addressed the UN Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee in New Delhi on Saturday and stressed the need to curb the exploitation of emerging technologies and starving terrorists of the vital funds used in terror activities.
Speaking at the United Nations Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee in New Delhi, he called on countries to work together to fight online terrorism - including global terror recruitment campaigns.
"We have made tacking illicit finance a core pillar of our cooperation with international partners like the UAE," he said on 'Countering the use of new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes'.
"If we are to keep our people safe, we must comply with human rights and we must continue to work together and with all parts of our communities to discredit the narratives of hate, to counter radicalisation... to foil plots, to starve terrorist of the finances and the emerging technologies that they would use, to do us harm," he added.
Terming terrorism as a global problem and a global threat, UK Foreign Secretary started off his address by thanking External Affairs Minister Jaishankar for using India's Security Council presidency to focus on this crucial issue.
On the emerging technologies, Cleverly said, within the space of just two decades, terrorists have gone from circulating crackly voice recordings from the depths of Tora Bora to global online recruitment and incitement campaigns to live-stream attacks.
To counter this threat posed by technologies, UK Foreign Secretary said Britain also working with the G7 and Global Internet Forum to counter terrorism. "We continue to press tech companies amongst whom are also the internet's biggest players to crack down even harder on the extremist content online," he added.
Cleverly said his country has taken a host of measures in recent years to combat terrorism such as, setting up the Counter Daesh Communication Cell in London and launching a counter-unmanned aircraft strategy.
"We are funding new counter-drone technologies and working through the Global Counter-Terrorism Forum to ensure that we do more to stop terrorists from misusing drones," he added.
It comes after he paid his respects on Friday at the Taj Palace Hotel in Mumbai, to those who lost their lives in the city's 2008 terror attack, including three British nationals.
During the visit, the UK Foreign Secretary announced further collaboration between the UK and India through British International Investment.
The UK Foreign Secretary is due to meet minister Jaishankar today to discuss the latest on the 2030 Roadmap, the landmark commitment to boost cooperation between the UK and India over the next decade.
