Global Terrorism Index (GTI)

• The Global Terrorism Index (GTI) places India at 13th. Even while assaults and fatalities declined, the report reveals that Afghanistan remained the nation most severely afflicted by terrorism for the fourth year in a row.

With connection to the Global Terrorism Index (GTI)

• The Global Terrorism Index (GTI) is a thorough study that examines the effects of terrorism on 163 nations, or 99.7% of the world's population.
• The Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP) uses information from Terrorism Tracker and other sources to generate the GTI report.
• GTI Score:
• The GTI generates a composite score in order to assess nations according to how much terrorism has affected them.
• Each nation is given a number from 0 to 10, with 0 denoting no damage from terrorism and 10 denoting the greatest quantifiable impact of terrorism.
• The GTI takes into account terrorism-related occurrences, hostages, and deaths.

What are the GTI's main highlights?

• The Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP), a think organisation, creates the GTI report using information from TerrorismTracker and other sources.
• Since January 1, 2007, Terrorism Tracker has kept records of terrorist attacks.
• Nearly 66,000 terrorist attacks from 2007 to 2022 are included in the dataset.
• Globally, terrorism-related fatalities decreased by 9% to 6,701 deaths, a 38% drop from their peak in 2015.
• Pakistan saw the second-largest increase in terror-related fatalities globally in 2022, with a substantial increase to 643.
• The region with the lowest average GTI score continues to be South Asia.
• In 2022, there were 1,354 terrorist-related fatalities in South Asia.
• For the eighth year in a row, Islamic State (IS) and its affiliates were the deadliest terrorist organisation on the planet, carrying out the most attacks and killings of any organisation in 2022.

Sahel and Af-Pak region:

• Attacks carried out by unidentified Jihadists resulted in eight times more fatalities worldwide than in 2017, accounting for 32% of all terrorism-related fatalities, and 18 times more in the Sahel.
• The Sahel is the area most affected by terrorism, accounting for 43% of all fatalities, a 7% increase over the previous year.
• The Sahel and Af-Pak region's jihadi upheavals continue to be major contributors to the rise in fatalities.
• Global trends: As terrorism declines in the West, attacks increase in other areas.
• Extreme far-right movements are expanding in both Europe and North America.

Challenges Related to Terrorism Globally

• Use of Emerging Technology by Terrorists: New advancements in computing and communications, such as widespread internet access, end-to-end encryption, and virtual private network (VPN), have allowed more radicalised people around the world to carry out different kinds of operations, increasing the threat.
• Politicisation of Terrorism Countermeasures: To varied degrees, the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (P5) have used their veto authority to block efforts to identify terrorists.
• terrorism funding The World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) believe that criminals launder up to $4 trillion annually. Terrorists have also used charities and auxiliary remittance systems to mask their financial moves.
• The public's confidence in the integrity of the system is damaged, and it affects the global financial system.
• Consequences for India
• Kashmir: After Article 370 was repealed in regards to organised terror, the security situation in Kashmir did improve, but new problems surfaced in the shape of an increase in lone-wolf attacks and increased use of drones for cross-border terrorism.
• Sikh separatism: As Punjab's socio-political climate takes a drastic turn, secret Sikh separatist sentiments are beginning to show indications of rebirth.
• Cross-border narco-terror networks: In Kashmir and Punjab, drug abuse is on the rise, and these networks are a major contributor to this trend.
• India currently lacks the necessary tools to handle the threat posed by terror drones, whose sightings drastically increased in 2022.

way forward

• Re-energizing the Global Counter-Terrorism Agenda: It is important to re-energize the global counter-terrorism agenda by highlighting the need for unity and limiting the P5's veto power over the identification of terrorists globally.
• Adopting a Universal Definition of Terrorism: A universal definition of terrorism is required in order for all UNGA members to be able to include it in their own criminal laws, outlaw terror organisations, try terrorists under special laws, and make international extradition a crime.
• At the UN, India made a proposal in 1986 for a drafting of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT). The UNGA has yet to accept it, though.

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