Right of self-defence also applies to attacks by non-state actors: India tells UN meeting

UNITED NATIONS: Exercising self-defence is a nation’s primary right when a situation demands ‘immediate and proportionate action’ and applies also to attacks by non-state actors, India told a UN meeting, highlighting several proxy cross-border and state-supported terrorist attacks like the 26/11 Mumbai assault the country was subjected to from its neighbour.

India’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador K Nagaraj Naidu said at an Arria Formula meeting organised by Mexico that a 1974 UN General Assembly declaration requires that a member state should not allow territory under its control to be used for terrorism against another state. The Arria Formula meetings are informal meetings on ‘Upholding the collective security system of the UN Charter: the use of force in international law, non-state actors and legitimate self-defence’.

The Security Council also mandates all states to refrain from providing any form of support, active or passive, to entities or persons involved in terrorist acts, Naidu said on Wednesday. “Despite this, some states are resorting to proxy war by supporting non-state actors such as terrorist groups to evade international censure. Such support to non-state actors has ranged from providing and equipping the terrorist groups with training, financing, intelligence and weapons to logistics and recruitment facilitation,” he said.