Dismantling the 'ecosystem' of terrorism requires going beyond kinetic action. Discuss with reference to terror financing and safe havens.

At the 25th SCO Council of Heads of Government in Dushanbe (October 2026), India asked members to dismantle the "entire ecosystem of terrorism". That means acting on those who finance, support or give safe havens to terrorists, and not only on the attackers [1]. Military strikes remove fighters. The ecosystem replaces them unless its money and shelter are cut off.

Why kinetic action alone falls short

• Operation Sindoor showed that terror bases are "no longer immune" to punishment [2]. But strikes only weaken a group for a while; the funders and handlers survive.
• Terrorism radicalises societies, takes opportunities away from youth and disrupts investment [1]. These are causes that force alone cannot fix.
• India's language at the SCO has changed over time. It moved from "crime against humanity" (2021) to "fix accountability on supporters" (2023) and now to "dismantle the ecosystem" (2026) [3][4][1].

Terror financing: cutting the supply line

• Money pays for recruitment, weapons and propaganda. At Qingdao (2025), India said financiers and sponsors must be held accountable [5].
• FATF grey-listing puts countries with weak AML/CFT systems (AML/CFT: anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism) under increased monitoring. This raises the cost of tolerating terror finance [6].
• At home, financial intelligence must be combined with strong prosecution, so that agencies follow the money as well as the gunmen.

Safe havens and state sponsorship

• Safe havens give terrorists training space and protection from punishment. India has urged the SCO to reject political exceptions and eliminate safe havens [2].
• The UNSC 1267 Committee can impose asset freezes, travel bans and arms embargoes [7]. But its listings depend on agreement among members, which allows the "double standards" India criticises [1].
• The SCO's RATS in Tashkent (its anti-terror body) provides a permanent channel for sharing intelligence [8].

Way forward

• Push for India's long-pending CCIT (a UN convention that would agree one definition of terrorism) to remove the "good vs bad terrorist" distinction.
• Press for mutual action on terror-financing requests within regional groupings.
• Back trade, connectivity and youth opportunity, such as the SCO trade action plan [1], to weaken the pull of radicalisation.

Military force can deal with the threat in front of it. Lasting security needs financial, legal and diplomatic pressure on the networks behind it. A rules-based, zero-tolerance approach supports SDG 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions) and India's call for "no justification, no double standard" [1].