India has asked that the Security Council maintain zero-tolerance for terrorism and its backers and called attention to Pakistan’s use of drones to transfer weapons to terrorists across the border.
India’s Permanent Representative P Harish stated on Monday, “India has suffered due to cross-border terrorism carried out using illicit weapons trafficked across our borders, including now through the use of drones.”
“We are reminded that these groups cannot survive without being enabled, financed, or supported by the growing volume and sophistication of such arsenals,” he stated.
Speaking during a Security Council Open Debate on Small Arms, Harish did not specifically mention Pakistan, but it was obvious who he was talking about.
He declared, “The Security Council must continue to uphold 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.”
“India has fought 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,” he stated.
The conference was chaired by Alhaji Musa Timothy Kabba, the foreign minister of Sierra Leone, who urged strict enforcement of arms embargoes to stop the spread of small weaponry.
“With an estimated 850 million small arms in circulation globally – about 650 million in civilian hands — the small arms trade is frequently cited as among the least transparent of all weapon systems,” he stated.
He stated that preventing terrorists from obtaining weapons was crucial.
Attention should be given to “emerging threats such as craft-produced and 3D-printed firearms” in addition to the threats posed by terrorists and transnational criminal networks cooperating, taking advantage of porous borders, and lax regulatory measures.
In his report to the Council, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a warning about the growing threat posed by terrorists utilizing 3-D printing technology to create weapons.
He stated that the Executive Directorate of the Counter-Terrorism Committee “has identified the manufacture of 3D-printed small arms and light weapons, parts and components by terrorists as an emerging Issue.”
He continued, “Member States are encouraged to take steps to regulate, through national legislation, digital blueprints and the electronic sharing of designs and construction data for the illicit manufacturing of firearms and components.”
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