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Madam Chair, Excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, 

At the outset, let me extend a warm welcome to all of you- who have travelled from every corner of the globe- for making it convenient to attend the Special Meeting of the Counter terrorism Committee of the UN Security Council. 

2. This is the first time that the UN Security Council is holding a meeting, in any format, in India. That it is doing so when we are celebrating the 75th anniversary of our Independence, the "Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav” is especially noteworthy. I thank the Members of the Committee and the Counter Terrorism Executive Directorate for their efforts in holding this Special Meeting in India. I would also like to acknowledge H.E. Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary General for his remarks that were read out just now by Ambassador. 

3. Your presence, here in Delhi today, for this Special Meeting of the CTC demonstrates the importance - that the UNSC Members, Member States, and a wide range of stakeholders - place on this critical and emerging facet of terrorism. That the Council is holding this Special Meeting of its Counter Terrorism Committee in India, is also product of the fact that counter terrorism has become one of the top priorities during our ongoing tenure in the Security Council. 

4. Terrorism remains one of the gravest threats to humanity. The UN Security Council, in the past two decades, has evolved an important architecture, built primarily around the counter terrorism sanctions regime, to combat this menace. This has been very effective in putting those countries on notice that had turned terrorism into a State-funded enterprise. 

5. Despite 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. 

6. The technological innovations and breakthroughs of the past two decades have been transformative in the way the world functions in every aspect. These new and emerging technologies – from virtual private networks, and encrypted messaging services to blockchain and virtual currencies – offer a very promising future for a wide array of economic and social benefits for humankind. However, there is a flip side especially where terrorism is concerned. 

7. These very technologies have also thrown up new challenges for the governments and regulatory bodies due to their potential vulnerability for misuse by non-state actors, given the very nature of some of these technologies and the nascent regulatory environment. 

8. In recent years, terrorist groups, their ideological fellow-travelers, particularly in open and liberal societies and ‘lone wolf’ attackers have significantly enhanced their capabilities by gaining access to these technologies. They use technology and money, and most importantly, the ethos of open societies, to attack freedom, tolerance and progress. Internet and social media platforms have turned into potent instruments in the toolkit of terrorist and militant groups for spreading propaganda, radicalization and conspiracy theories aimed at destabilizing societies. 

9. Another add-on to the existing worries for governments around the world is the use of unmanned aerial systems by terrorist groups and organized criminal networks. Being a relatively low-cost option and with an increasing ease of accessibility, misuse of these unmanned aerial platforms for nefarious purposes by terrorist groups such as weapons and explosives delivery and targeted attacks have become an imminent danger. They are, therefore, a challenge for security agencies worldwide. The possibilities of using weaponized drones for terrorist purposes against strategic, infrastructure and commercial assets call for serious attention by the Member States. 

10. Our own experience of the 2008 Mumbai attacks and you will all recall the briefing yesterday- our experience showed us how a benign technology of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) could be used for organizing and directing such a barbaric terrorist attack from beyond our borders. More recently, these terrorist groups have been using unmanned aerial platforms, such as drones and quadcopters for cross border trafficking of drugs and arms and for carrying out terrorist attacks. 

11. And such risks are not just limited to India. In Africa, drones have been used by the terrorist groups to monitor movements of security forces and even of UN peacekeepers, making them vulnerable to terrorist attacks. A few months ago, terrorists launched cross-border 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. India has strongly condemned these cross-border drone attacks both in UAE and Saudi Arabia. 

12. With this context, we felt an urgency to initiate a focused discussion at this pre-eminent Security Council organ – the Counter Terrorism Committee- charged with the purpose of combating terrorism, on this evolving threat from misuse of new and emerging technologies. 

13. In January last year, while addressing the Security Council on the issue of terrorism, I had called for the need for the international community to adopt an 8 point-action point, which remains relevant in the context of today’s meeting as well. 

14. One of the key points I had advocated was for Member States to increase funding for UN organs such as the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism, the UNOCT. We have with us, Ambassador Vladimir Voronkov, Under-Secretary-General for Counter-Terrorism. Excellency, I am happy to announce that India will be making a voluntary contribution of half a million dollars in the UN Trust Fund for Counter Terrorism this year, to augment the efforts of UNOCT in providing capacity building support to Member States in preventing and countering the threat of terrorism. 

15. I would like to conclude by reaffirming India’s commitment to strengthen international efforts to combat terrorism, including combating the use of new and emerging technologies. The "Delhi Declaration” which is to be adopted at this Special Meeting of the CTC will exemplify the commitment of the international community in dealing the threat of use of new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes. 

16. We are honored to host this Special Meeting of the Counter Terrorism Committee in India and contributing to international efforts in this regard. I am confident that today’s Special Meeting, will be yet another milestone for this Council to deal with the pressing issue, which requires urgent attention of the international community. 

I thank you.