The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
Countries using legal technicalities to avoid fight against terror: Ansari
VICE-PRESIDENT WRAPS UP POLAND, ARMENIA VISIT
DUBBING TERRORISM as a pandemic, Vice-president Hamid Ansari on Saturday lamented that some countries take the cover of “legal technicalities” to try to avoid the fight against the menace. Ansari also said that every country faced the problem of terrorism to a “greater or lesser” degree.
“But some countries come up with legal technicalities in defining terrorism as an excuse to try to avoid committing themselves (to fighting terrorism),” he told the media aboard Air India One Special Aircraft on his way back home after his visit to Armenia and Poland. Ansari did not name any country.
Replying to a question on adopting the India-led Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT), he referred to the time when he was the permanent representative of India to the United Nations(un), and India had introduced a proposal on CCIT.
It was struck down because there were differences on the definition of a terrorist, he said.
“Those who do not want this to make progress come up with legal technicalities,” he said. “It is an excuse on part of some countries to try to avoid committing themselves,” he added.
Speaking about the two-nation visit, the Vice-president said it had been “productive”. “Armenia and Poland are friendly countries and we were able to regenerate interest in mutual cooperation,” he said.
Reacting to a question on India’s image abroad, he said multiple images are a fact of life. In this context, he referred to India’s Mars mission and launch of satellites for other countries. “A common man looks at our strengths in Information Technology. We have to take note of what ISRO is doing, what IT is doing and what Indian scientific research is doing,” he said.