A terrorist, is a terrorist: India calls for collective action to root out murderous ideology

Published 2 July 2026 · india

Asserting that a “terrorist is a terrorist”, India has called on the international community to work collectively to root out the “murderous ideology” without finding

Asserting that a “terrorist is a terrorist”, India has called on the international community to work collectively to root out the “murderous ideology” without finding any grievance to justify terrorism. “India has been a victim of cross-border terrorism for decades. Our people have paid the price of terrorism in lives lost, families scarred, and societies shattered. This experience has shaped India's approach: there can be no justification for terrorism." "Irrespective of any grievance, political cause or strategic calculation, terrorism in all its forms and manifestations must be condemned unequivocally,” India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Harish Parvathaneni has said. Assessing the UN General Assembly on the adoption of the Ninth Review of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy (GCTS), on Wednesday (July 1), Mr. Parvathaneni said the international community must reject double standards in counter-terrorism. He emphasised that there is an obligation to hold perpetrators, organisers, financiers and sponsors of terrorism accountable and bring them to justice. Member states should ensure full cooperation in this regard, he said. “A terrorist is a terrorist!! We must work hand in hand to root out the murderous ideology without finding any grievance to justify terrorism,” he said.

India said counter-terrorism should not be hollowed out by false equivalences or politicised narratives. "We must address the conditions conducive to the spread of terrorism, but we must never confuse context with justification. We must uphold human rights and the rule of law, but we must also recognise that the first human right is the right to life, and terrorism is the most direct assault on this human right.” India also stressed that countering terror financing must remain central to the international community’s collective efforts. "The international community must improve financial intelligence sharing, strengthen implementation of Financial Action Task Force standards, and ensure that no jurisdiction remains a safe conduit for terror financing.” Noting that misuse of new and emerging technologies by terrorists demands urgent attention, India said it is “disheartening” that negotiations of this review of the GCTS were not able to reach an acceptable landing point on the crucial issue of ensuring that terrorists are denied the technological tools for their nefarious acts. India said the adoption of this review comes at an important moment, as 20 years ago, Member States had come together to adopt the GCTS.