'World must focus on ways to stop use of new technologies by terror groups'

India on Saturday pitched for global efforts to stop possible misuse of new technologies such as encrypted messaging and cryptocurrency by nonstate actors with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar cautioning that the social media platforms have turned into potent instruments in the toolkit of terror groupsIn an address at a special meeting of the UN Security Councils CounterTerrorism Committee CTC he also said terrorist groups their ideological fellowtravellers and lone wolf attackers have significantly enhanced capabilities by gaining access to the new technologiesHe also said the counterterror sanction regime of the United Nations has been effective to put countries on notice that turned terrorism into a statefunded enterprise seen as an apparent reference to PakistanRepresentatives from all 15 member nations of the UN Security Council are attending the second days meeting that is taking place in Delhi The first days events were held in MumbaiReaffirming Indias commitment to combat terrorism the external affairs minister also announced that New Delhi would make a voluntary contribution of half a million dollars in the UN Trust Fund for CounterTerrorism this yearAlso Read 2611 will never ever be forgotten says Jaishankar pays tribute to victims of Mumbai terror attackIn his remarks Jaishankar said the technological innovations of the past two decades have been transformative in the way the world functions and the new and emerging technologies from virtual private networks and encrypted messaging services to blockchain and virtual currencies are offering a very promising future for a wide array of economic and social benefitsHowever he said there is a flip side to it especially where terrorism is concernedThese very technologies have also thrown up new challenges for the governments and regulatory bodies due to their potential vulnerability for misuse by nonstate actors given the very nature of some of these technologies and the nascent regulatory environment Jaishankar saidIn recent years terrorist groups their ideological fellowtravellers particularly in open and liberal societies and lone wolf attackers have significantly enhanced their capabilities by gaining access to these technologies he addedThe external affairs minister said these forces use technology and money and most importantly the ethos of open societies to attack freedom tolerance and progressInternet and social media platforms have turned into potent instruments in the toolkit of terrorist and militant groups for spreading propaganda radicalisation and conspiracy theories aimed at destabilising societies he saidAnother addon to the existing worries for governments around the world is the use of unmanned aerial systems by terrorist groups and organised criminal networks he saidJaishankar noted that the misuse of these unmanned aerial platforms for nefarious purposes by terrorist groups such as delivery of weapons and explosives and to carry out targeted attacks have become an imminent dangerThey are therefore a challenge for security agencies worldwide The possibilities of using weaponised drones for terrorist purposes against strategic infrastructure and commercial assets call for serious attention by the member states he saidIt is for the first time that the UN Security Council is holding a meeting in any format in IndiaDescribing terrorism as one of the gravest threats to humanity Jaishankar said the UN Security Council in the past two decades has evolved an important architecture built primarily around the counterterrorism sanctions regime to combat the menaceThis has been very effective in putting those countries on notice that had turned terrorism into a statefunded enterprise he saidDespite this the threat of terrorism is only growing and expanding particularly in Asia and Africa as successive reports of the 1267 Sanctions Committee Monitoring Reports have highlighted he saidThe external affairs minister said holding of the special meeting by the UN Security Council in India is also the product of the fact that counterterrorism has become one of the top priorities during New Delhis ongoing tenure in the top bodyJaishankar called for focused discussion at the CounterTerrorism Committee to stop the misuse of new and emerging technologies by terror groupsHe also referred to the use of technology by the terror networks that carried out the 2611 Mumbai attackOur experience showed us how a benign technology of Voice over Internet Protocol VoIP could be used for organising and directing such a barbaric terrorist attack from beyond our borders he saidMore recently these terrorist groups have been using unmanned aerial platforms such as drones and quadcopters for crossborder trafficking of drugs and arms and for carrying out terrorist attacks he notedThe external affairs minister cautioned that such risks are not just limited to IndiaHe said drones have been used by terror groups to monitor the movements of security forces and even UN peacekeepers in AfricaA few months ago terrorists launched crossborder drone attacks on the UAE and Saudi Arabia targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure which led to loss of lives and injuries including to Indian nationals there he saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever