Friday, July 22 2005 16:55 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

United Nations: Rejecting the arguments that the rise in terrorism was due to clash of civilizations, India has asked the international community not to tolerate "double standards" and allow countries supporting the war on terror but maintaining terror infrastructure to get away with impunity.

Without naming Pakistan, India's ambassador to the United Nations, Nirupam Sen told the Security Council that the international community must no longer tolerate resort to "double standards, partial cooperation for political ends, tactical ploys, incitement, fundamentalist training and indoctrination, and support or sponsorship of terrorism."

States, which "profess" cooperation in the war against terror but maintain infrastructure of terrorism should no longer allowed to get away with impunity and to take quick proactive measures to check further nuclear proliferation, he said participating in the debate on "Threats of International Peace and Security Caused by Terrorism."

Stressing that New Delhi's track record on nuclear non- proliferation is impeccable, Sen said, "even though we have witnessed unchecked proliferation in our own neighborhood, which has affected our security concerns, India has not only adhered to existing regulatory framework governing controls over weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery but proceeded to strengthen these."

It is not clash of civilizations

Dismissing the argument that terror results from clash of civilizations, Sen said the Indian experience is that this paradigm is profoundly mistaken.

"India's capacity to deal with the vicissitudes of terrorism can be traced to its ability to accommodate different cultural and civilizational traditions over time," Sen said.

Pointing out that cross border inspired terrorism has killed more than 60,000 people over last 25 years in India, he said New Delhi has consistently maintained that terrorism constitutes one of the most serious threats to peace and security.

Terrorism does not recognize border or the bounds of civility, code of conduct or constraints of religion. Nor is it restrained by humanism or the bounds of civility, he said.

Stressing that terrorism is not new to India, he said five heavily armed militants, believed to be affiliated to the Lashkar-e-Toiba, stormed the temple complex in Ayodhya with the intention of spreading mayhem and terror at a sensitive site only 15 days ago.

"Fortunately, owing to the effective intervention of the security forces deployed at the complex, the militants were neutralized at a relatively low cost. However, the intention of the perpetrators of this act of terrorism, and their external sponsors whose involvement has since been proven, was far more sinister.

"It was to incite the flames of communal conflagration and violence and damage India's secular and democratic fabric," Sen asserted.