India on Monday called for serious attention from member states of the United Nations on use of weaponised drones “for terrorist activities against strategic and commercial assets”, Prasar Bharati reported.

Speaking at the General Assembly of the United Nations, Special Secretary (Internal Security) of home ministry VSK Kaumudi highlighted upon the threat of drones, pointing out that they were low-cost and easily available options.

His comments came after the Jammu and Kashmir Police suspected the use of drones to drop explosive material in the two low-intensity explosions that took place in the technical area of Jammu Air Force Station on Sunday morning. However, the Indian Air Force has not confirmed the use of drones in the incident.

In a separate incident on Monday, the Indian Army confirmed that two “drone activities” were tracked over the Ratnuchak-Kaluchak military area in Jammu. Army spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Devender Anand said that “a major threat” was thwarted after Quick Reaction Teams engaged the drones with firing.

“Misuse of information and communication technology and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes emerged as most serious terrorism threats and will decide counter-terrorism paradigm going forward,” Kaumudi said at the General Assembly on Monday.

He was speaking at a conference on the agenda, “Global scourge of terrorism: assessment of current threats and emerging trends for the new decade”.

Kaumudi told the General Assembly that the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent isolation have further accentuated the impact of the internet on people making them vulnerable to radicalisation and recruitment by terrorist groups, PTI reported.

Spreading terrorist propaganda through the use of “indulging video games” is another strategy that was deployed by terrorist groups during the pandemic, he said.