UNSC marks anniversary of 9/11 by visiting ground zero; 'Devoted towards fighting terror'

Ahead of the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the members of the United Nations Security Council in a joint statement released on Thursday outlined that they were as 'united today as they were two decades ago' to counter-terrorism in all its form. In 2001, on September 11, four commercial flights were hijacked, two of which were flown into the World Trade Centre in New York, one in the Pentagon building in Washington, and one in a field in Pennsylvania, killing over 3,000 people. 

The member states marked the anniversary with a visit to the September 11 Memorial and Museum in New York City. Talking about the same, India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador T S Tirumurti told PTI," It was indeed a moving experience to be present at Ground Zero in New York on the 20th Anniversary of the 9/11 terror attack. I paid homage at the memorial to all the lives lost, which include many Indians. The site should remind us of our collective resolve to fight terrorism and to refute all attempts to justify it." 

'The world should not forget 9/11'

Chairman of the National September 11th Memorial and Museum Michael Bloomberg and President and CEO Alice Greenwald welcomed the Council to the site and led a tour of the museum. Speaking at the Memorial, Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield who led the United Nations Security Council said, "I hope that we can use this occasion to reflect and remember and honour those victims, as well as the survivors and first responders from that day. The Council and the world should never forget the attack on the city that we all now call our home." 

It is pertinent to mention that the visit to the 9/11 Memorial by the Council Ambassadors is the first Security Council event since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Calling it a sad event, Thomas-Greenfield said, "But it's an important event that reflects the unity of this Council on this issue and it means a lot to us to be able to gather here today as a group and pay tribute to the victims of 9/11 and to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the action that the Council took as a united front in response to the attack."

In the joint statement, the member countries 're-committed' to the words set forth in the Charter of the United Nations to 'save succeeding generations from the scourge of war and for these ends to unite our strength to maintain international peace and security'. "Those words are a guiding light to all nations as we engage in our solemn task to make the world safer and more secure", the statement read. 

(With inputs from PTI)