Permanent Mission of India
New York
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CT Week Side Event: AI and the Future of Counter-Terrorism: Reshaping Institutions and Operational Realities

Statement by Ambassador Harish Parvathaneni, Permanent Representative
1 July 2026

Excellencies, Dear Colleagues

All protocols observed.

It gives me great pleasure to join you today. It was only in December that we  come together in this format to discuss “Building Operational Capacities for the Use of AI in Counter-Terrorism”. Six months is relatively a short span of time in the traditional domains. However, in the AI space, six months is a lifetime. In this period, we have expanded our partnership and collaboration to include Japan, the EU and other partners while retaining UAE and UNCRI who will work closely along with the UNOCT.  So this is for us a positive development of the growing importance of this subject in the UN. 

While I can use the time allotted here to talk about our co-organizers who are firmly committed to Counter Terrorism as much as we are, especially in the AI domain.  I want to do something different in my opening remarks.

I just asked AI what happened in the AI and the CT space in the last six months. And the answer was of particular note and I am going to read it out verbatim:

AI has not yet “revolutionized” counter-terrorism in the last six months, but it has sharply changed the operating assumptions. CT agencies are now treating AI both as a threat multiplier for terrorists and as a capability multiplier for States.

It further listed some specific use cases and they are as follows:

1. The threat picture has shifted from “online propaganda” to “AI-enabled operational ecosystems” - generative AI can help extremists produce propaganda at scale, tailor recruitment material, generate misinformation and deepfakes, translate content across languages, and accelerate radicalisation online.

2. Counter-terrorism is becoming more predictive and data-fusion driven-AI is changing CT from a largely human-led intelligence cycle into a machine-assisted pattern-detection cycle.

3. Online CT is moving towards AI-assisted moderation, but with more caution: AI moderation is still bad at context.

4. AI has pushed CT into the urban-security, border-management and critical-infrastructure space – AI now is now embedded in conversations on facial recognition, biometrics, border screening, public-space surveillance, predictive policing, major event security and critical infrastructure protection.

So, friends, it is safe to probably say that AI is on its way to transform CT from a contest over networks and narratives into a contest over data, speed, trust and governance.

And I am certain that the implications are only going to increase and this is going to grow difficult for the Counter Terror agencies as terrorists adopt, morph and disrupt beyond propaganda and recruitment.

Colleagues,

It is unfortunate that the ninth review of the GCTS could not agree on the language on this topic and the strategy will have to be a technical roll over. For this topic impacts us all equally and the GCTS was a perfect place to highlight a joint resolve. Via the Delhi Declaration on countering the use of new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes, the CT Committee of the UN Security Council recognized that “innovations in technology may offer significant CT opportunities”. In this regard, it is pleasing that its pillars have been taken forward by friends from UAE and Algeria and India will try to operationalize the third pillar hopefully when we enter the Council next. However, given the pace of change in this technology, we will cross that bridge when it comes up.

In closing let me once again reiterate my Prime Minister’s word of caution that in today’s interconnected world, Security cannot be an after thought. It has to be at the core of our decision making.

I wish you all fruitful deliberations.

Thank you very much.