Britain is funding new anti-drone technology and is working to understand and disrupt terrorist financing, Foreign Secretary James Cleverley said on Saturday.
In a speech to the United Nations Security Council’s counter-terrorism committee in New Delhi, he tactfully said technological advances have given terrorists “new opportunities that we must counter.”
“In just 20 years, terrorists have gone from disseminating jarring audio recordings from the depths of Tora Bora to global online recruitment and agitation campaigns and live-stream attacks.”
It tactfully warned against “online incitement and racism of vulnerable people in faraway countries” and called on UN counterparts to “cooperate to combat terrorist ideologies online”. .
He also said the UK is part of a collaboration to challenge the narrative of the ISIS terrorist group.
The foreign secretary also referred to the Houthi missile attack on Abu Dhabi in January and the use of drones in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, noting that various types of unmanned aerial systems were “used to cause terror, death and destruction. It is being done,” he said.
The UK government is funding new anti-drone technology and tactfully said it is working with partners at the Global Counter-Terrorism Forum to stop terrorists from “exploiting drones”.
He said the UK would work with technology companies and international partners to “understand and disrupt terrorist financing, including in Somalia and North Africa.”
He also said he was looking forward to the No Money for Terrorism conference in India in November.
UK-India Trade Agreement
During his visit to India, Cleverley said he had “positive and productive meetings” with his Indian counterpart, Mr. Subramanyam Jaishankar.
“We discussed trade, investment, defense and security cooperation to improve the lives and livelihoods of our citizens,” the foreign secretary said on Twitter.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi ‘good progress’ towards finalizing new trade deal after government missed Diwali deadline to conclude deal set by Prime Minister Boris Johnson He said he hopes to achieve
Tavernly told Reuters that the UK is “really prioritizing” the deal and “will continue to ensure that our officials and ministers speak regularly and work hard to make it happen.” but refused to give a timeline.
“We’ve done a lot of work, and it’s very important to remember that a large free trade deal like the one we’re negotiating is never a simple one, but it’s already It’s a very important means of building a strong relationship and making it really future-oriented,” he said.
Previous difficulties included high import duties on British whiskey sold in India. New Delhi is also keen on easier UK visas for Indians.
Tactfully, he said, “I want to make sure the visa arrangement is quick, easy and convenient.”
The two countries want to double their bilateral trade by 2030 from over $31 billion (£27 billion) today.
He was asked about the Group of Seven (G7) plan to cap Russia’s oil prices and its plan to get countries such as India to agree to it. Since the start of the Ukraine war, India has been a big buyer of Russian oil.
“As a British politician, I don’t think it’s right to dictate policy to other countries,” he said.
Reuters and PA Media contributed to this report.
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Lily Zhou is an Ireland-based reporter focusing on UK news. Lily said she attended the Chinese edition of The Epoch Times for the first time before she focused on the UK in 2020.