World leaders at G20 send out a strong message on terrorism
Subhashis Mittra
Gloom descended on Happy Valley—in sharp contrast to its name—when an Indian Army soldier on leave was abducted at gunpoint in his native place and killed in the ethnic strife-torn Manipur. The targeted killing of the jawan came days after a sub-inspector of the Manipur Police was shot dead in the Churachandpur district of the violence-hit state. Sub-inspector Onkhomang Haokip was killed while on duty at N Chingphei village.
The back-to-back killings in September came after four months of continuous ethnic bloodshed, which has taken a toll of 175 lives and uprooted 50,000 people from their hearth and home.
While on the one hand Manipur was on the boil, on the other hand—almost simultaneously—world leaders at the G20 summit in New Delhi voiced concern over illicit trafficking and diversion of small arms and light weapons. The menace of arms trafficking is commonly seen in most of the states in the northeastern region.
“We condemn terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including those on the basis of xenophobia, racism and other forms of intolerance, or in the name of religion or belief, recognising the commitment of all religions to peace,” said the Delhi Declaration.
“It constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security. We strongly condemn all terrorist acts against critical infrastructure, including critical energy facilities, and against other vulnerable targets. All acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation, wherever, whenever and by whomsoever committed.”
The G20 leaders said effective counterterrorism measures, support for the victims of terrorism and the protection of human rights are not conflicting goals, but complementary and mutually reinforcing. A holistic approach on the basis of international law can effectively counter terrorism.
Efforts to increase the effectiveness of international cooperation should be strengthened to deny terrorist groups safe haven, freedom of operations, movement and recruitment, as well as financial, material or political support, they said.
The G20 leaders also expressed concern about illicit trafficking and the diversion of small arms and light weapons. International cooperation among states is critical to combat these phenomena, including export, import controls and tracing.
“We commit to supporting the increasing resource needs of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and FATF Style Regional Bodies and encourage others to do the same, including for the next round of mutual evaluations. We remain committed to the timely and global implementation of the revised FATF Standards on the transparency of beneficial ownership of legal persons and legal arrangements to make it more difficult for criminals to hide and launder ill-gotten gains.
“We welcome the ongoing work of the FATF to enhance global efforts to recover criminal proceeds, in particular, the progress made by the FATF towards revising its standards on asset recovery and reinforcing global asset recovery networks.
“We reiterate the importance of countries developing and implementing effective regulatory and supervisory frameworks to mitigate risks associated with virtual assets in line with FATF Standards, especially for terrorism financing, money laundering, and proliferation financing risks,” the G20 leaders said.
The leaders said they support the FATF’s initiative to accelerate the global implementation of its standards, including the ‘travel rule’, and its work on risks of emerging technologies and innovations, including decentralised finance (DeFi) arrangements and peer-to-peer transactions.
At a press briefing on the G20 Summit outcomes, India’s external affairs minister S Jaishankar said the G20 leaders also addressed the subject of countering terrorism and money laundering. The leaders condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and recognised that it constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security, he said.
The G20 grouping called for strengthening of efforts to increase the effectiveness of international cooperation to deny terrorist groups safe haven, freedom of operations as well as financial, material or political support.
“A holistic approach on the basis of international law can effectively counter terrorism. Efforts to increase the effectiveness of international cooperation should be strengthened to deny terrorist groups safe haven, freedom of operations, movement and recruitment, as well as financial, material or political support,” the Declaration said.
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