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Among Gobal Issues…:Terror Hijacks G8 Summit,by Dr. Chintamani Mahapatra, 21 July 2005 Print E-mail

EVENTS AND ISSUES

New Delhi, 21 July 2005

Among Gobal Issues…

Terror Hijacks G8 Summit

By Dr. Chintamani Mahapatra

School of International Studies, JNU

Months of preparations went into holding the G8 Summit at St. Petersburg in Russia, but it appeared that terrorism and violence hijacked this important gathering of one of the most powerful groups of influential countries. The participants were aghast by the horrendous terrorist strike in Mumbai that killed more than two hundred innocent lives, injured more than five hundred and frightened millions others who often travel by train to make both the ends meet.

The statement issued by the G8 members and the observers condemned this ghastly act of timidity. It said; "We are outraged by the barbaric terrorist acts, carried out on 11 July 2006 in Mumbai and other parts of India. We stand in solidarity with the Government and the people of India and express our deepest condolences to the victims and their families….We are united with India in our resolve to intensify efforts to fight terrorism which constitutes a threat to each of our country, as well as to international peace and security."

Yet another incident that occupied the debate and deliberations at the St. Petersburg Summit was the kidnapping of four Israeli soldiers and Tel Aviv’s strong retribution against Hamas and Hezbollah leading to massive bombardment of Lebanon. Neither the G8 nor the international community has been able to take a definite stand on the Middle East violence, as international terrorism is striking back in Afghanistan, Iraq, India, Pakistan and in several other places as well. Israel, which is often criticized for its heavy-handed approach in dealing with Palestinian issue, is undoubtedly facing enormous terrorist challenges.

The international community is not united in its view on the victory of Hamas in the Palestinian election recently. Yet another angle is the alleged Iranian involvement in giving persistent help to Hamas and Hezbollah and a suspicion that Tehran is raising the temperature in the Middle East by enhanced encouragement to militant elements to divert the attention on its nuclear weapon ambitions.

The G8 resolution on this issue is significantly balanced. It said: “The immediate crisis results from efforts by extremist forces to destabilize the region and to frustrate the aspirations of the Palestinian, Israeli and Lebanese people for democracy and peace.  In Gaza, elements of Hamas launched rocket attacks against Israeli territory and abducted an Israeli soldier. 

In Lebanon, Hizbollah, in violation of the Blue Line, attacked Israel from Lebanese territory and killed and captured Israeli soldiers, reversing the positive trends that began with the Syrian withdrawal in 2005, and  undermining the democratically elected government of Prime Minister Fuad Siniora. These extremist elements and those that support them cannot be allowed to plunge the Middle East into chaos and provoke a wider conflict.  The extremists must immediately halt their attacks.”

And then it went on to say that “it is also critical that Israel, while exercising the right to defend itself, be mindful of the strategic and humanitarian consequences of its actions.  We call upon Israel to exercise utmost restraint, seeking to avoid casualties among innocent civilians and damage to civilian infrastructure and to refrain from acts that would destabilize the Lebanese government.”

Nonetheless, the G8 underscored the rise in the extremism and terrorism and were less critical of Israeli retribution. It was clearly reflected in the order of its resolution, which called for: Return of the Israeli soldiers in Gaza and Lebanon unharmed; an end to the shelling of Israeli territory; an end to Israeli military operations and the early withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza; and release of the arrested Palestinian ministers and parliamentarians.

While nations continue to differ on the definition of terrorism and the best means to tackle this menace, the G8 declared: “We, the Leaders of the G8, meeting in St. Petersburg, categorically denounce terrorist attacks worldwide and condemn in the strongest terms those who perpetrate these atrocities and bring untold suffering and death to citizens.  We express our deepest sympathy with all victims of these attacks.  If terrorism and violent extremism are permitted to exist anywhere, they diminish our societies everywhere.  Today we pledge that we will not rest until the terrible blight of terrorism has been removed from our daily lives.”

The G8, which recognizes the role of the UN in tackling the terrorist menace the world over, reiterated its commitment to work closely with the UN Security Council’s Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) and expressed its desire to expand cooperation between other countries and the Counter-Terrorism Action Group (CTAG) it has created

The G8 Summit already had the issue of energy security high on its agenda. Russia’s self-perception as an energy superpower, its use of energy to pressurize its neighbours and the rising oil prices would have dominated the debate and discussions. But terrorist violence, sectarian conflict and Israel’s war against Lebanon in the heart of the world’s hydrocarbon resources altered the focus and concerns were expressed over the danger to the energy infrastructure.

The G8 thus recognized the urgency of enhancing “cooperation with regard to counter terrorist and other criminal attacks on critical energy infrastructure facilities” and announced “a plan of action to secure global critical energy infrastructure, including defining and ranking vulnerabilities of critical energy infrastructure sites, assessing emerging and potential risks of terrorist attacks, and developing best practices for effective security across all energy sectors within our countries.”

Significantly, the issue of nuclear terrorism was also seriously debated. In the past, scholars and officials differed on this issue. Some argued that nuclear weapons are too complicated and difficult for the terrorist groups to manufacture. Others emphasized that terrorist groups may not be able to build nuclear bombs, but they can certainly acquire one. The Abdul Qadeer Khan-run nuclear black market certainly has frightened and woken up the world leaders to nuclear terrorism.

In sharp contrast, India got kudos for its new commitment to non-proliferation. The G8 statement on non-proliferation said: “We look forward to reinforcing our partnership with India. We note the commitments India has made, and encourage India to take further steps towards integration into the mainstream of strengthening the non-proliferation regime, so as to facilitate a more forthcoming approach towards nuclear cooperation to address its energy requirements, in a manner that enhances and reinforces the global non-proliferation regime.”

The G8 did carry out debate and discussion on a host of global issues, but terrorism and violence dominated the summit.---INFA

 

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)

 

 

 

 

 

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