India, Australia ink agreement to expand counter-terror efforts
NEWDELHI: A pact to expand counter-terror cooperation was among six agreements India and Australia inked on Monday as the two countries called for strong action against those financing and providing sanctuary to terror groups.
During their talks, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Malcolm Turnbull decided to expand their ties in key areas, including defence, trade, energy and education. The two leaders asserted that the fight against terrorists, terror organisations and networks should also identify, hold accountable and take strong measures against those who encourage, support and finance terror, provide sanctuary to terrorists and terror groups, and falsely extol their virtues.
“They emphasised the need for urgent measures to counter and prevent the spread of terrorism and violent extremism and radicalisation and expressed their determination to take concrete measures to step up cooperation and coordination among the law enforcement, intelligence and security organisations,” a joint statement said.
The MoUs provided for deeper cooperation in areas of health and medicine, sports, environment and climate, among others. Modi also thanked Turnbull for passage of a legislation by the Australian parliament paving way for the country to export uranium to India.