The governments of India and the United States have reached an agreement to take action against pan-Islamist terror groups al-Qaida and ISIS/Daesh and Kashmir-centric Pakistan sponsored jihadi terror groups, Lashkar e-Tayyiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Hizb-ul Mujahideen.
Both governments feel that Pakistan should take an “immediate, sustained and irreversible action and ensure its territory is not used for terrorist activities against India and the United States.”
The agreement also calls for the expeditious justice to the perpetrators of terrorist attacks, including the 26/11 Mumbai strike and the Pathankot airbase attack.
One of the important outcomes of this meeting between India and the US was the discussion of mutual legal and extradition assistance, bilateral law enforcement training and cooperation.
The 17th meeting between the India-US Counter-Terrorism Joint Working Group and the third session of the India-US Designations Dialogue was held in a virtual environment on September 9-10 and both democratic nations called for the end of terrorist proxies and strongly condemned cross-border terrorism in all its forms.
India was represented by Mahaveer Singhvi, Joint Secretary for Counter-Terrorism, Ministry of External Affairs, and the American delegation was led by Nathan Sales, State Department Coordinator for Counterterrorism.
The joint statement stated that both countries believe in counterterrorism cooperation and will continue close coordination on a comprehensive global strategic partnership that exists between the two countries.
The joint statement said, “The two sides underlined the urgent need for Pakistan to take immediate, sustained, and irreversible action to ensure that no territory under its control is used for terrorist attacks, and to expeditiously bring to justice the perpetrators of such attacks, including 26/11 Mumbai and Pathankot,”.
The US said it will extend the Indian government support to fight against terrorism and the threats posed by UN-sanctioned Islamic terrorist entities like al-Qa’ida, ISIS/Daesh, Lashkar e-Tayyiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), and Hizb-ul Mujahideen, a media statement said.
Both sides have decided to share information about their priorities and procedures for pursuing sanctions and designations against terrorist groups and individuals.
Both India and the US also held discussions on the challenges both nations face with regards to counter-terrorism, terror financing operations of terrorist organisations, the growing radicalisation and the use of internet to spread hate.