Dismantling the 'ecosystem' of terrorism needs more than kinetic action. Discuss with reference to multilateral mechanisms such as SCO-RATS and FATF.

Kinetic action such as strikes and raids removes attackers. It leaves intact the finance, safe havens, radicalisation and propaganda that produce new ones. At the 25th SCO Council of Heads of Government in Dushanbe (2026), India called for dismantling the "entire ecosystem" of terrorism, including those who finance, support or provide safe havens [1]. Multilateral mechanisms are indispensable for this non-kinetic layer.

Why kinetic action alone falls short

• Cross-border networks: money, recruits and propaganda move across jurisdictions that no single state's forces can reach.
• Technology: the dark net and private currencies enable funding and recruitment far from any battlefield [6].
• Crime–terror nexus: organised crime and money laundering keep replenishing lost cadres [6].

Role of SCO-RATS

• RATS is a permanent SCO body in Tashkent that coordinates members against terrorism, separatism and extremism [2].
• Capacity-building: under RATS, India has hosted practical seminars since 2019, including one on countering misuse of the internet for terrorist purposes (New Delhi, 2023) [3].
• Counter-radicalisation: India acknowledged RATS's role in tackling youth radicalisation (Qingdao, 2025) [4].
• New permanent bodies, the Universal Centre (Tashkent) and the Anti-Drug Centre (Dushanbe), target the drug–terror nexus [1].

Role of FATF

• FATF sets global AML/CFT standards. Its grey-listing raises the cost for states that tolerate terror funding.
• India's 2024 Mutual Evaluation placed it in "regular follow-up". It also flagged slow prosecution of terror financiers and the misuse of non-profits [5].
• India's No Money for Terror conference (2022) urged imposing costs on sponsor states and implementing FATF standards "in spirit" [6].

Limitations

• Consensus deadlock: the Qingdao SCO Defence Ministers' meeting (2025) produced no agreed outcome document [7].
• Double standards: Masood Azhar's listing under the UN 1267 sanctions regime came only in May 2019, after being pending since 2009 [8].
• Declarations carry no penalties, and RATS has no enforcement powers.

Way forward

• Use SCO commitments as leverage for UN 1267 listings and FATF reviews.
• Build real-time financial-intelligence sharing and regulate virtual assets.
• Secure the same language across forums. The UNSC, Quad and BRICS all condemned Pahalgam even though the SCO stalled [7].

A lasting answer to terrorism combines military deterrence with financial, digital and diplomatic pressure. If India keeps turning "no double standards" into listings, prosecutions and shared intelligence, RATS and FATF can choke the ecosystem itself. That would advance SDG 16: peaceful, just and inclusive societies.