Terrorism is senseless violence in which civilians are often the target, like the recent Pahalgam incident in Kashmir. Militant groups that engage in transnational terrorism employ disparate terrorist tactics for several disruptive motives. Their transnational terrorist operations are underpinned by a strategic need to influence intended audiences abroad in achieving their process and outcome goals. Depending on the militant groups’ short- and long-term objectives, the type of attack indicates the type of terrorist strategy they will employ.

At its core, terrorism is a senseless, violent discourse, aimed at influencing the policies and support of an intended audience beyond the immediate victims. These targeted third-party audiences can include governments (domestic or foreign), opposition political parties, the passive public, and the supporting global religious constituency of the militant group.

There is a plethora of international agreements, covering all facets of terrorism, including the intractable problem of narco-terrorism.

The major international agreements are:

• 1988 UN Drug Convention – United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (1988)

• UN Single Drug Convention – United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (1961 as amended by the 1972 Protocol)

• UN Psychotropic Substances Convention – United Nations Convention on Psychotropic Substances (1971)

• UNCAC – UN Convention against Corruption (2003)

• UNTOC – UN Convention against Transnational Organised Crime (2000) and its supplementing protocols:

• Trafficking in Persons Protocol – Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime

• Migrant Smuggling Protocol – Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Air and Sea, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime

• Firearms Protocol – Protocol against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Their Parts and Components and Ammunition, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime.

Significantly, both India and Pakistan are signatories to all these international agreements.

In addition, a significant recent initiative is the Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drug Threats, an international partnership which the United States launched in mid-2023. In September 2024, the United States hosted a Leaders’ Summit at the UN General Assembly to mark the first year of the Global Coalition, which now has 164 participating member states and 15 international organisation partners working to disrupt the supply chain for synthetic drugs and detect emerging drug threats.

The United States also spurred new global action against the synthetic drug crisis at the High-Level Segment of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) in March 2024, which marked the first time a US Secretary of State attended a meeting of the UN’s drug policymaking body.

Also, the US Department of State, Bureau of Counterterrorism identifies State Sponsors of Terrorism. Countries determined by the Secretary of State to have repeatedly provided support for acts of........

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