'Terrorism is their state policy': EAM Jaishankar in veiled attack on Pakistan and China

A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi slammed Pakistan and China for sponsoring terrorism, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar echoed the same and called for an “undifferentiated and undiluted” approach towards fighting terrorism. He said that "some" countries are supporting terrorism and eventually made their state policies. "The 'No Money for Terror' platform aims to broad base the Big Fight against Terror Financing. When it comes to terrorism, we will never look away, we will never compromise and we will never give up on our quest to ensure justice," he said.

While speaking at the ‘No Money For Terror’ conference on Saturday, the minister stressed that terrorism is a matter of grave concern for all states and appealed to work collectively in order to eradicate terrorism. "It is important that all states collectively follow an undifferentiated and undiluted approach to terrorism. Terror is terror, and no political spin can ever justify it," said Jaishankar in a veiled attack on Pakistan & China.

Jaishankar laments jurisdiction limitations in curbing terrorism

He also emphasised the cross-border terror funding which leads to the rise of geo-political tensions and lamented how countries could not able to take concrete action due to jurisdiction limitations. "While cross-border support is behind terrorist attacks, it is the irony that any response by authorities to terrorism stops at their geographical borders because that is where jurisdiction ends. These limitations play to the benefit of the terrorist groups," said Jaishanakar. “In India’s context, terrorist groups from across the border like LeT, JeM or Harkat-ul Mujahideen and their proxies thrive on assured financial support to commit barbaric acts of terror on Indian soil,” he added.

During the event, the minister highlighted the Security Council resolution 2462 in his speech and underscored that the implementation of the resolution is still not in proper place due to political will. The global fight against terrorism cannot succeed without conscious and coordinated efforts to counter financing of terrorism," he noted. Furthermore, Jaishankar accentuated that the terror outfits are using new technology to evade the regular funding model and hide from the lenses of international investigating agencies.  

"Misuse of financial technology such as Blockchain, virtual cryptocurrencies, digital crowdsourcing and prepaid phone cards, have posed a great risk for the efforts of countering terror financing,” he said.

PM Modi calls for a mechanism to exact a price on terror-supporters

Earlier on Friday, PM Modi, in a veiled attack on Pakistan and China, asserted the need to build a mechanism to exact a price on countries supporting or sponsoring terrorism. PM Modi said that a cost must be imposed on countries which aid terrorism as part of their foreign policy. Although he did not mention any names, little needs to be said about the circumstances applying to Pakistan and China. Also, he emphasised that those individuals or organisations that have sympathy for terrorists must be isolated. 

Image: Twitter@DrSJaishankar