Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that a cost must be imposed on countries that directly or indirectly support terrorism.

He added that certain countries back terrorism in their foreign policy while others support terrorists indirectly by blocking actions against them.

“State support is one of the major sources of political, ideological and financial support to terrorism,” Modi said. “There must be a cost imposed upon countries that support terrorism. Organisations and individuals that try to create sympathy for terrorists must also be isolated.”

He made the remarks at the third ‘No Money for Terror ministerial conference on Counter-Terrorism Financing’ in New Delhi.

The Bharatiya Janata Party leader said that the international community needs to unite against all kinds of overt and covert backing of terror.

Several reports claim that Modi’s comments were meant for China and Pakistan.

On August 10, China had blocked a proposal by India and the United States at the United Nations to blacklist Abdul Rauf Azhar, a commander of the terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed. Abdul Rauf Azhar is the brother of Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar and is accused of planning to hijack the Indian Airlines flight IC-814 in 1999.

In June, Beijing had put hold on a proposal to sanction terrorist Abdul Rehman Makki, the brother-in-law of Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed. Such a proposal has to be cleared by all 15 members of the Security Council sanctions committee.

A spokesperson for China’s mission to the United Nations had said that Beijing needed more time to examine the case and the proposal. “Placing holds is provided for by the Committee guidelines, and there have been quite a number of similar holds by Committee members on listing requests,” the spokesperson had said.

During Friday’s conference, Modi said that the intensity of the reaction to terrorist attacks should not vary based on where it happens.

“All terrorist attacks deserve equal outrage and action,” the prime minister said. “Further, sometimes, there are indirect arguments made in support of terrorism to block action against terrorists. There is no place for an ambiguous approach while dealing with a global threat.”