India wants UN members to ensure zero tolerance towards terror

India will ask members of the United Nations to ensure a "zero tolerance" approach towards terrorism besides pressing for an early adoption of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism during the UN General Assembly's annual gathering of world leaders.

Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai said India also proposes to focus on the issue of terrorist financing at a special meeting of the UN Security Council's Committee on Counter-Terrorism in November.

Mathai said India would continue to stress the need for a "proactive campaign" against terrorism during the current session of the General Assembly and would work towards an early adoption of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism.

India, which chairs the UNSC's counter-terrorism committee, would also "urge all member states to ensure zero tolerance towards terrorism and to take urgent action to prevent and combat terrorism in all its forms and manifestations," Mathai told reporters at India's UN mission here yesterday.

India would also continue to emphasise its commitment to universal, non-discriminatory, phased and verifiable nuclear disarmament in a time bound manner.

Mathai said the ongoing 67th session of the General Assembly is taking place at a time when the world is facing continued economic and financial uncertainty and the Middle East and North Africa regions are in a "state of flux".

During the UNGA session, India would actively pursue measures aimed at strengthening multilateralism while ensuring that the interests and concerns of the developing world form the basis of these endeavours.

A major part of India's efforts would be directed towards maintaining development as a centrepiece of the UN priorities, Mathai said.

He added that India would also focus on ensuring that the post-2015 development agenda retains its focus on poverty eradication and inclusive growth.

"We will be proactive on the evolution of the Sustainable Development Goals in an inter-governmental process visualised at Rio+20 ensuring the primacy of development and addressing environmental and social concerns of developing countries," he said, adding that another area of focus for the country would be the early implementation of the financing strategy and the facilitation mechanism for transfer of technology to support sustainable development.

External affairs minister SM Krishna will arrive in the city today for the General Assembly session, which he would be addressing on October 1.

He is scheduled to participate in several high-level meetings, including the ministerial meeting of the India Gulf Cooperation Council on September 28, the annual Commonwealth Foreign Ministers' meeting on September 29, meeting to commemorate 15 years of the convention against chemical weapons on October 1 and the informal meeting of the SAARC Foreign Ministers on October 2, Mathai said.