Terrorism is cancer; India's external affairs minister calls for global efforts to curb it

External Affairs Minister of India S Jaishankar has called for global mechanisms to shut down the infrastructures supporting the menace of terrorism. During his remarks at the 19th Darbari Seth memorial lecture organised by The Energy Research Institute(TERI), Jaishankar said terrorism is a cancer and just like pandemics, it impacts all humanity.

Jaishankar stated "countries which have produced terrorism for export try to show themselves as victims of terrorism" as the foreign minister took a jibe at Pakistan. He further said international pressure has compelled a state, which has engaged in "aiding, abetting, training and directing" terror groups and criminal outfits, to acknowledge the presence of wanted terrorists and organised crime leaders in the country.

This was in reference to the SRO released by Pakistan last week, where it mentioned names of 80 terrorists including Dawood Ibrahim, Hafiz Sayeed and Masood Azhar, in a bid to avoid getting blacklisted by anti-terror watchdog, Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

Taking note of 9/11 and 26/11 terror attacks, Jaishankar said that despite the organisations like FATF, the world "lacks a Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism, with the membership of the UN still wrestling with certain foundational principles."

"It remains for the international system to create necessary mechanisms to shut down structures that support and enable terrorism, whether in South Asia or across the globe," the minister added.