India skeds UN Counter-Terror panel meet at Taj hotel, target in Mumbai attacks

India will host two meetings of the United Nations Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee later this month, including an informal but symbolic meet at the Taj Palace Hotel that was one of the main targets of the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks.

The Counter-Terrorism Committee rarely meets outside the UN headquarters in New York and the meetings to be held in New Delhi and Mumbai during October 28-29 will be only the seventh instance of the panel’s members gathering in a foreign country, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

These will also be the first meetings to be held away from the UN headquarters since 2015.

The Counter-Terrorism Committee includes all 15 permanent and non-permanent members of the UN Security Council and India is the chair of the committee for 2022. “The fact that the committee has agreed to meet in India, especially when such meetings are mostly held within the UN system, reflects the importance attached to counter-terrorism efforts by India,” one of the people cited above said.

Most of the formal work of the Counter-Terrorism Committee will be done at the meeting in New Delhi. This will include deliberations among the 15 Security Council members and other UN member states which will be special invitees, and briefings and presentations by experts on terrorism and security, the people said.

The meeting at Taj Palace Hotel – where terrorists from Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) killed more than 30 people during a three-day siege of Mumbai in November 2008 – will precede the formal meeting and will be more symbolic and informal in nature, the people said. This will be an opportunity for the Indian side to show to the UN Security Council members how the country has been a victim of cross-border terrorism over the years.

Members of the Counter-Terrorism Committee are expected to place a wreath at the site of the attacks in Mumbai as a tribute to the 166 people who were killed by the LeT team that targeted India’s financial hub. Among the dead were nearly 30 foreigners, including nationals of Security Council permanent members such as the US, the UK and France.

The Indian side is also working with other Security Council member states on an outcome document that will send a clear message against all forms of terrorism and seek to strengthen a coordinated response to the menace, the people said.

The Counter-Terrorism Committee will meet in India in the aftermath of China, a permanent member of the Security Council, blocking efforts by India and the US in September to designate Pakistan-based terrorists such as LeT operative Sajid Mir, one of the main players involved in planning and executing the Mumbai attacks and had directed the attackers to kill several Israeli nationals at Chabad House.

In August, China blocked the move to designate Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) leader Abdul Rauf Asghar who was involved in the planning and execution of terrorist attacks, including the hijacking of Indian Airlines flight IC814 from Kathmandu to Kandahar in 1999 and the 2001 attack on India’s Parliament. In June, China stymied efforts to list LeT leader Abdul Rehman Makki, the brother-in-law of LeT founder Hafiz Saeed.

Pakistan charged seven LeT members, including operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, for the Mumbai attacks but is yet to convict anyone for the carnage.

The Counter-Terrorism Committee’s meetings in India will focus on the use of new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes, according to a UN statement. The meeting in New Delhi will focus on three areas – internet and social media, terrorism financing and unmanned aerial systems. These are all areas where emerging technologies are experiencing rapid development and growing use by UN member states, including for security and counter-terrorism purposes, though there are “increasing threats of abuse for terrorist purposes”, the statement said.

In view of the increasing threat posed by misuse of these technologies, the meeting will provide an overview of ways UN member states are deploying emerging technological developments to prevent and counter terrorist narratives and acts and to bring terrorists to justice, update member states on recent developments and latest evidence-based research on threats, identify continuing challenges, and share good practices in compliance with international human rights law, industry action, public-private partnerships and legislative, policy and regulatory responses.

The Counter-Terrorism Committee special meeting will “consider endorsing a declaration on its proceedings”, the statement said. Ahead of the meeting in New Delhi, the Counter-Terrorism Committee’s Executive Directorate held six technical sessions during September and October.

Sameer Patil, senior fellow at the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), said the holding of the Counter-Terrorism Committee meeting outside New York and in India “is a recognition of India’s efforts in the field of counter-terrorism, particularly since the Mumbai attacks”. He added, “The holding of a meeting in Mumbai is also symbolic, given that the city has been a major victim of Pakistan’s cross-border terrorism.”