The statement said that the Code of Conduct (CoC) in the SCS should not prejudice the legitimate rights and interests of any nation in accordance with international law. China and the ASEAN nations hope to complete the negotiations for the CoC by 2021, but there are fears that China may use its influence to modify the CoC implementation to suit its own interests.
In an apparent dig in China, the two sides reiterated their commitment to maintaining a free, open, inclusive, peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific based, among other things, on investment in transparent and sustainable infrastructure and mutual respect for sovereignty.
The third 2 + 2 engagement also saw substantive conversations on topics ranging from counter-terrorism to space cooperation, health, trade, energy, higher education, and innovation.
As in 2019, India and the US named Pakistan and asked it to take immediate, sustained and irreversible action to ensure that no territory under its control is used for terrorist attacks, and swiftly bring to justice the perpetrators and planners of all those attacks, including 11/26 in Mumbai, Uri and Pathankot.
The joint statement denounced the use of terrorist proxies and strongly condemned cross-border terrorism in all its forms, while emphasizing the need for concerted action against all terrorist networks, including al-Qaeda, ISIS / Daesh, LeT), JeM and Hizb-ul- Mujahideen.
The Ministers also pledged to continue exchanging information on sanctions and designations against terrorist groups and individuals, particularly in light of recent legislative changes in India, as well as to counter the financing and operations of terrorist organizations, against radicalism and anti-radicalism. terrorist use of the Internet, the cross-border movement of terrorists, and the prosecution, rehabilitation, and reintegration of returning terrorist fighters and their families, “the statement said.
The sources said that the cooperation between India and the United States in fighting terrorism has seen considerable progress with better information exchange and operational cooperation. The bilateral Joint Working Groups on Counterterrorism and Designation Dialogue also meet regularly to enable cooperation in seeking sanctions and designations of terrorist groups and individuals, they said.
The 2 countries also discussed, amid the ongoing peace process in Afghanistan, their “shared interest” in promoting a sovereign, peaceful, united, democratic, inclusive, stable and secure Afghanistan, including supporting an Afghanistan led by Afghanistan and for Afghanistan. own peace process. Faced with the possibility of the Taliban joining the Kabul government, India, which has supported the peace process, again shared its concern about the possibility that Afghanistan could be used to carry out activities against India.
“They applauded India’s development assistance and efforts to build trade links and multimodal connectivity infrastructure for Afghanistan in order to enhance its regional connectivity to sustain long-term growth and development,” the joint statement said.
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