PM Modi wants Africa as partner in fight against terrorism

Posted on September 28, 2015 0 Comments146
NEW DELHI: After his pitch for UNSC expansion in New York, PM Narendra Modi will use the issue of terrorism to strike a special rapport with African countries in what is now certain to be the largest gathering of heads of states and governments ever in India next month.

The 3rd India-Africa Forum Summit, October 26-30, will see participation of 40 leaders from Africa, including Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, and Modi will have bilateral meetings with each one of them. TOI has learnt that terrorism will be a special focus area for Modi in his meetings with African leaders as he seeks to enlist their support for an early adoption of the 1996 India-backed Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) at the UN.

With terrorism snapping at its heels, African can no longer, Indian authorities believe, remain indifferent to the issue. The negotiations for CCIT have been pending with the UN for over 19 years now. The Modi government attributes the deadlock to Pakistan which continues to maintain that CCIT has to differentiate between acts of terrorism and “legitimate struggles for self-determination of people living under foreign occupation”. The global community, though, has failed to define terrorism which is important to conclude the negotiations.

Modi has repeatedly emphasized the significance of CCIT since taking over as PM and even in his bilateral meetings with leaders at the UN last week, including with Jordan’s King Abdullah, he insisted that the convention be adopted soon. Modi is looking to make Africa a partner as he calls for a global response to combat international terrorism.

“We should pass the UN’s Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism. At least, it will clearly establish whom you view as a terrorist and whom you don’t. We need to delink terrorism from religion – to isolate terrorists who use this interchange of arguments between terrorism and religion,” Modi told Time magazine in an interview earlier this year.

India is feeling emboldened by the fact that China, along with Russia, expressed support for CCIT during a RIC (Russia, India and China) meeting of foreign ministers in Beijing earlier this year. Foreign minister Sushma Swaraj thanked both countries for their support.

With Africa rising and Nigeria one of the contenders for a UNSC permanent seat, Modi believes it is important to cooperate on terrorism with Africa where terror groups of all hues have mushroomed in the past few years. Sunni Islamist group Boko Haram remains powerful in parts of northern Nigeria and now pledges allegiance to IS. In fact, IS itself is fast making inroads into north Africa and now has substantial presence in Libya and Egypt’s Sinai peninsula.

A former ally of Al Qaeda, Al-Shabab group wants to seize power in Somalia and threatens to strike all countries which have got involved militarily in that country. It was responsible for the sensational attack on Kenya’s Westgate Mall which left scores dead. Al Qaida in Islamic Maghreb also continues to operate in north Africa.

When Modi hosts African leaders, he will reiterate his point that terrorism, the IS more specifically, is one of the greatest challenges facing the international community. A month to go, the summit is already being hailed as a major achievement for the Modi government with 40 leaders, out of the 54 invited, agreeing to come. In that way, it will surpass the 1983 CHOGM summit which was attended by 33 leaders. 

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