He also warned against increasing sophistication in small arms and their delivery to terrorists through drones and strongly called for universal condemnation against nations that supply weapons to terrorist groups.
Speaking for the India UN Mission, R. Ravindra mentioned terrorist organizations' escalating capabilities to obtain advanced arsenals and directly linked this escalation to state sponsorship or support. He signaled the meeting's commitment to the UN Conference reviewing progress against illicit small arms, which has stressed the imperative need for an unambiguous global condemnation. Never having mentioned any nation by name, above all Pakistan, he singled out as a major source of weaponry causing terrorism against India.
"For decades, India has suffered grievously from cross-border terrorism and violence by terrorist groups using illegal weapons sneaked across our borders, including through drones," Ravindra said in an assertion of the Indian view that illegal possession and use of small arms by non-state actors is a violation of state sovereignty.
Speaking on the same issue, Under-Secretary-General Izumi Nakamitsu corroborated concerns that small arms were deepening levels of crime, forced displacement, and terrorism. She warned that improvements in manufacturing, technology, and design saint—like 3D printing—now had certainly paved the way for easier illicit overproduction and trafficking.
Nakamitsu referred to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres's new Agenda for Peace, in which regional cooperation is urged to prevent the flow and trafficking of small arms and light weapons across borders. Ravindra has come up with a new initiative under the name of Regional 911, with plans for increased regional cooperation in breaking up the arms trafficking networks and improvement in security and tracking mechanisms of small arms in order to prevent them from going into wrong hands.
"In post-conflict situations, they often remain illegally in the hands of non-state actors, thwarting disarmament processes, demobilization, and reintegration, "Ravindra said as he underlined that India adheres to the tightest export-control regime concerning munitions, including small arms and light weapons. He offered India's expertise in this domain to assist other nations.
It reaffirmed India's commitment to global arms control measures with regard to the participation of India in the Wassenaar Arrangement and compliance with thirteen counter-terrorism conventions, in furtherance whereof, the UN Convention on Transnational Organized Crime and its Firearms Protocol have been ratified.
It clearly established India's proactive stance toward the issues of illicit trade and transfer of small arms and protecting vulnerable regions from this destabilizing effect of these arms.
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