India asks UN to adopt ‘Zero tolerance’ approach against terrorism

New York: India will ask members of the United Nations to ensure a “zero tolerance” approach towards terrorism.
Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai said India also proposes to focus on the issue of terrorist financing at a special meeting of the UN Security Council’s Committee on Counter Terrorism in November.

Mathai said the ongoing 67th session of the General Assembly is taking place at a time when the world is facing continued economic and financial uncertainty and the Middle
East and North Africa regions are in a “state of flux”.

During the UNGA session, India would actively pursue measures aimed at strengthening multilateralism while ensuring that the interests and concerns of the developing world form the basis of these endeavours.

A major part of India’s efforts would be directed towards maintaining development as a centrepiece of the UN priorities, Mathai said.

He added that India would also focus on ensuring that the post-2015 development agenda retains its focus on poverty eradication and inclusive growth.

“We will be proactive on the evolution of the Sustainable Development Goals in an inter-governmental process visualized at Rio+20 ensuring the primacy of development and addressing environmental and social concerns of developing countries,” he said, adding that another area of focus for the country would be the early implementation of the financing strategy and the facilitation mechanism for transfer of technology to support sustainable development.

External Affairs Minister S M Krishna will arrive in the city today for the General Assembly session, which he would be addressing on October 1.