Terrorism one of the gravest threats to humankind: Jaishankar

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said that terrorism remains one of the “gravest threats to humankind” and constitutes a severe challenge to the global human rights agenda. In his virtual address to the 46th session of the UN Human Rights Council, Jaishankar on Tuesday called for a coordinated global response to the challenges confronting the human rights agenda, including terrorism, global inequities and armed conflicts. Jaishankar is the first Indian foreign minister who addreesed the the UN Human Rights Council.

He said that the Covid-19 pandemic has complicated the situation in many regions and there is a need for countries to come together to overcome these challenges, He also called for the reform of multilateral institutions and mechanisms so that they can effectively deal with these challenges. India, Jaishankar noted, had presented to the UN Security Council last month an eight-point action plan to deal with terrorism, and the country will continue to work with members of the Security Council and other states to ensure the implementation of this plan. “By giving direct food support to 800 million Indians and financial support to 400 million, many of them women, we ensured that basic needs were very effectively addressed even during the lockdown. And as we addressed the health front at home, we responded to the world in equal measure,” he said.