India, during its tenure as a non-permanent member of the influential 15-nation UN body, will chair the key Taliban and Libya sanctions committees and the Counter-Terrorism Committee of the UN Security Council.
India, which has been at the center of years of attempts to reform the UNSC, started its two-year term as a member of the Council last Friday.
“The UN Security Council establishes subsidiary bodies on specific issues, including on the sanctions regimes.
“I’m happy to announce that India has been asked to chair three important committees of the Security Council, which include the Taliban Sanctions Committee, Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) and the Libyan Sanctions Committee,” India’s Ambassador to the UN Permanent Representative, T. S. Tirumurti, said in a video statement on Thursday.
More About India’s Taliban Sanctions Committee:
Tirumurti said that India’s Taliban Sanctions Committee, also identified as the 1988 Sanctions Committee, has always been a “high priority,” bearing in mind the strong interest and commitment of the nation to Afghanistan’s stability, security, growth, and progress.
“Our chairing this committee at this juncture will help keep the focus on the presence of terrorists and their sponsors threatening the peace process in Afghanistan. It has been our view that the peace process and violence cannot go hand in hand,” he said.
In 2022, the year in which India will celebrate the 75th anniversary of its Independence, Tirumurti will lead the CTC.
“India will also chair the Counter-Terrorism Committee in 2022, which coincides with the 75th anniversary of India’s Independence. The chairing of this committee has a special resonance for India, which has not only been in the forefront of fighting terrorism, especially cross-border terrorism but has also been one of its biggest victims,” he said.
Tirumurti claimed that the Libyan Sanctions Committee, also known as the 1970 Sanctions Committee, is a ‘very relevant’ subsidiary body of the Committee enforcing the sanctions regime, which includes a two-way weapons blockade on Libya and the freezing of properties, a travel ban and illegal petroleum export measures. Let’s see how it goes in Taliban.
“We will be assuming the chair of this committee at a critical juncture when there is an international focus on Libya and on the peace process,” he said.
The three panels are highly important UNSC subsidiary bodies, and India’s chairmanship is a ringing affirmation of the leadership of the country to head the commissions. In the battle against the international scourge of terrorism, in particular, the risk posed by cross-border terrorism from Pakistan, India is a leading voice at the UN.
India has stressed that, as it sits at the UN High Table for the 2021-22 term, the war against terrorism will be a major objective.
