Addressing the United Nations General Assembly's legal committee, Indian Ambassador Nirupam Sen asked the nations to devise a "global response" to deal with terrorism, saying nothing can justify the senseless killing of innocents.

He stressed that democratic societies are best suited to fight the scourge which can manifest itself anywhere and at any time.

"Democratic societies have the advantage of encouraging secular, democratic and progressive opposition forces which prevent fundamentalist forces form monopolizing political space," he told the Committee on which all member States are represented.

Referring to differences over reaching a definition of terrorism among the member States with some contending it could affect those they consider freedom fighters, Sen told the delegates yesterday that there is a "wide and unbridgeable gulf" between a freedom fighter on one hand and terrorist suicide bomber on the other.

"The former sacrifices his own life alone, the latter also sacrifices the lives of innocent civilians; the former gives up his life so that innocent people may live, the latter gives up his life so that innocent people may die. The former's action is life enhancing; the latter's is only a form of necrophilia," he said.

Pointing out that the challenge of confronting terrorism is not new to India which has been its victim for more than two decades, Sen emphasised that New Delhi is committed to "eradicating this threat from our societies."

Reminding the committee that the United Nations Global Counter Terrorism Strategy also condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, he said it signals the will of the international community that it would no longer tolerate the "actions of the sponsors and abettors of terrorism or of those who willfully fail to prevent terrorists from utilising their territories."

But he said a strong response to terrorism requires broad-based international cooperation, compressing the space available to terrorists, and increasing the capability of States to address terrorist threats.

Stating that it requires sustained and specific cooperation by a variety of national, regional and global agencies, he expressed the hope that the strategy would provide the impetus to unite the international community in its fight against terrorism via practical measures that facilitate cooperation by way of extradition, prosecution, information exchange, and capacity building.

"Welcome as the strategy is, there is much more that needs to be done to combat the menace that international terrorism has become," he said and warned that the global struggle against terrorism will remain incomplete without an early adoption of the Comprehensive Convention against Terrorism (CCIT).

India, Sen said, believes that agreement is attainable and definitional issue a "red herring."

Sen told the Committee that the CCIT is not concerned with terrorism as a philosophical category but terrorist acts that are specific crimes and these have defined. MORE PTI DS

"We believe that when adopted, CCIT would provide a solid legal basis for the fight against terrorism. After all it would be a dreadful paradox if democratic societies were to make civil liberties so precious as to curtail them," Sen added.

Firmly rejecting the notion that any cause can justify the terrorism, Sen said "the senseless slaughter of innocents reinforces the urgency with which we need to unitedly and resolutely confront terrorism everywhere and at all levels and clearly proclaim that terrorism can never be accepted or justified."

The UN General Assembly has successfully established a comprehensive legal framework in the field of counter-terrorism, he said, stressing that the 13 major UN instruments relating to specific terrorist activities remain fundamental tools in the fight against terrorism.

India is a party to all the 13 major legal instruments. India had ratified the 2005 International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism in May this year.

The Convention, Sen said, provides a legal basis for international cooperation to prevent terrorists from acquiring nuclear weapons.

But the effectiveness of this instrument depends on the degree to which States Parties respect, abide by and enforce its provisions, he said.

Key in this regard, he told the delegates, is strengthening the security of fissile materials stored in nuclear facilities.

"If governments fulfill their duties under this Convention, the agreement will work well and accomplish its purposes," Sen said