Countries must work together to fight online terror and cut terrorists’ resources to prevent deadly attacks, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly will tell a United Nations meeting in India.
Speaking at the UN Security Council counter-terrorism committee in New Delhi on Saturday, he will urge allied states to tackle terror groups’ use of technology to recruit and radicalise people and livestream attacks.
We must starve terrorists of the finance and emerging technologies that will cause death and destruction around the world— Foreign Secretary James Cleverly
Mr Cleverly is expected to say: “Within the space of two decades, terrorists have gone from circulating crackly voice recordings from the depths of Tora Bora, to global online recruitment and incitement campaigns, to livestreaming attacks.
“Online incitement has radicalised vulnerable people in far-off countries, who have gone on to use rental vans as weapons of terror.
“So we must continue to work together to fight terrorist ideologies online.”
He will conclude that nations must “starve terrorists of the finance and emerging technologies that will cause death and destruction around the world”.
On Friday, the Cabinet minister laid a wreath at the Taj Palace Hotel in Mumbai in honour of those who were killed in the city’s 2008 terror attack, including three British nationals.
“The horrors of that day must never be repeated. The UK stands with India against terror,” Mr Cleverly tweeted.
The UK is funding new technology to crack down on drones being used to inflict terror and is working with allies to push tech companies to stamp out extremist content and challenge propaganda by so-called Islamic State.
The Foreign Secretary is set to meet India’s minister of external affairs on Saturday to discuss boosting co-operation between the two countries.
It comes after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi he hopes to make “good progress” on finalising a new trade deal, after the Government missed the Diwali deadline for striking an agreement set by Boris Johnson.
The Department for International Trade had sought to play down suggestions of a breakdown in negotiations in the wake of Home Secretary Suella Braverman’s controversial remarks about Indian migrants in the UK overstaying visas.
