India and the United States on Tuesday reiterated their call on Pakistan to take irreversible steps to ensure its territory is not used for terrorist attacks and to swiftly prosecute the perpetrators and planners of the attacks in Mumbai, Uri and Pathankot.
Pakistan’s demand for action to counter terrorism, contained in a joint statement issued after the 2 + 2 ministerial dialogue, was similar to calls made by India and the United States in recent years. The joint statement also called for “concerted action” against terrorist networks such as al-Qaeda, Islamic State and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
In addition to China’s aggressive actions in the region and beyond, the fight against terrorism was part of the discussions between Foreign Minister S Jaishankar and Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and their US counterparts Mike Pompeo. and Mark Esper. Jaishankar said in a media interaction after the meeting that the Indian side made it “clear that cross-border terrorism is completely unacceptable.”
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The joint statement noted that the ministers had “denounced the use of terrorist proxies and strongly condemned cross-border terrorism in all its forms,” and said: “They stressed the need for concerted action against all terrorist networks, including al-Qaeda, ISIS / Daesh, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen “.
The statement added: “The ministers called on Pakistan to take immediate, sustained and irreversible measures to ensure that no territory under its control is used for terrorist attacks, and to quickly bring to justice the perpetrators and planners of all such attacks, including 11/26 Mumbai, Uri and Pathankot “.
Six US citizens were among the 166 people killed in the 2008 Mumbai attacks carried out by a 10-member LeT team from Pakistan. The Uri attack in 2016 and the Pathankot attack in 2016 were attributed to JeM, based in Pakistan.
The joint statement said the two sides are committed to the continued exchange of information on sanctions and designations of terrorist groups and individuals, particularly in light of recent legislative changes in India, and to counter the financing and operations of terrorist organizations, counteract radicalism and terrorist use of the Internet.
People familiar with the events said, on condition of anonymity, that counterterrorism cooperation between India and the United States has made considerable progress with better information sharing and operational cooperation. Joint task forces on counterterrorism and designation dialogue meet regularly to enable cooperation in seeking sanctions and designations of terrorist groups and individuals, the people said.
The joint statement further said that the two sides are committed to countering the “cross-border movement of terrorists and to prosecute, rehabilitate and reintegrate returning terrorist fighters and their families.”
While enhancing cooperation in multilateral forums such as the UN, the two sides reaffirmed their support for the early adoption of a UN Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism to strengthen global cooperation.
The ongoing Afghan peace process also featured in the 2 + 2 meeting, with the joint statement saying that the ministers had discussed their “shared interest in promoting a sovereign, peaceful, united, democratic, inclusive, stable and secure Afghanistan – process of Afghan run and owned peace ”.
The US side “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 growth and development.”
Jaishankar told the media interaction: “In Afghanistan, India’s stakes on its security and stability are evident, as is our willingness to contribute to international efforts to that end.” Pompeo said that “The United States values India as a multilateral partner, whether through the Quad [or] making the Afghan peace negotiations a success … ”
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