India on Thursday, reiterated that a strong response reflecting the international community's collective commitment is required for defeating terrorism in Africa.
During a UNSC debate on 'Counterterrorism in Africa: An imperative for peace, security and development', the Permanent Representative to the UN, Ruchira Kamboj said, "A strong, effective and coherent response that reflects the international community's collective commitment to defeat terrorism is essential in Africa as elsewhere."
"We very much hope that the Delhi Declaration would pave the way for the formation of a normative framework," she added.
The UN Representative further said that the foothold of terrorism in Africa had expanded significantly in recent years.
"Terrorist groups in Africa continue to target civilians and peacekeeping forces, across conflict zones. Sadly, the worst recipients of their atrocities have been women, children and vulnerable sections of the population," Kamboj added.
Kamboj also stressed the fact that following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, the risk of IS affiliates and other terrorist groups imitating this in Africa remains high.
"In this context, we need to fully implement UN Security Resolution 2593," she added.
The UN Representative also emphasized that India has been contributing proactively to enhance the capacity of African states in combating terrorism.
"Since 2018 India has contributed more than 1.5 million dollars to the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) programme targeting capacity building of countries of east and southern Africa. This year too as announced by the External Affairs Minister of India at the CTC special meeting in New Delhi, we have contributed half a million dollars to further strengthen our effort," she said.
( With inputs from ANI )
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