The 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks has once again forced the world to confront a painful truth: terrorism does not thrive only in remote mountains, deserts or ungoverned frontiers. It can also survive in settled communities, networks and institutions when those willing to confront it are weaker than those prepared to shelter or enable it. Speaking at the United Nations Security Council, India’s Permanent Representative Harish Parvathaneni made precisely this point while recalling the fate of several al-Qaeda leaders involved in the 9/11 attacks. Osama bin Laden was eventually found in Abbottabad, while Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was captured in Rawalpindi. Other senior al-Qaeda operatives were also apprehended in Pakistani cities. India used these cases to argue that the architects of 9/11 were not simply fugitives hiding in distant caves. The larger message is more important than the rhetoric. The global fight against terrorism cannot end with the elimination of individual commanders. It must address the networks that recruit, finance, train, facilitate and protect terrorist organisations. India also pointed to Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, alleging that such groups have continued to benefit from an environment in which terrorist leadership and infrastructure can operate with insufficient consequences. These are serious allegations and require continued international scrutiny, evidence-based action and effective implementation of UN counter-terrorism mechanisms. The UN has learned many lessons since 9/11. Intelligence sharing has improved, financial networks are monitored more closely and sanctions mechanisms have expanded. Yet terrorism continues to evolve. Organisations change names, methods and structures. Online radicalisation, encrypted communications, drone technology and transnational financing have added new dimensions to an old threat. That is why counter-terrorism must remain consistent and non-selective. No country should be allowed to distinguish between “good” and “bad” terrorists according to political convenience. The same principle must apply whether violence occurs in New York, Mumbai, Kabul, Peshawar or anywhere else. India’s intervention at the UNSC therefore carries a broader reminder: defeating terrorism requires more than military operations. It requires accountability, international cooperation and the political will to dismantle ecosystems that allow violent extremism to survive. Twenty-five years after 9/11, the world owes its victims not merely remembrance, but a sustained commitment to ensuring that terror finds no sanctuary anywhere.