Hizb’s Salahuddin gets US terror tag

Trump administration signals tougher Pak stance

WASHINGTON: The US designated Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahudddin a global terrorist just hours ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meetings with the American president on Monday and there was “strong focus” on counter-terrorism in the Indian leader’s meetings with Trump administration officials.

India welcomed the designation, saying it “vindicated” its long-standing position that crossborder terrorism perpetrated from outfits based in Pakistan was behind disturbances in Kashmir .

It also “underlines also quite strongly the fact that both India and United States face the same threat of terrorism”, ministry of external affairs spokesman Gopal Bagley told reporters.

He said there was a “strong focus” on counter-terrorism in the meeting Modi had with secretaries of state and defense Rex Tillerson and James Mattis ahead of the meeting with President Donald Trump.

In a sign of the importance ter- ror is being accorded, Modi wrote in an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal, “We share the US administration’s determination to defeat this scourge”.

The White House had indicated the leaders could announce new initiatives in counter-terror in “global cooperation” and “burden-sharing”, especially in the context of Afghanistan, where India has committed $3 billion in assistance for development projects and democratic institutions.

The US wants the Indians to strengthen intellectual property rights, cut tariffs and grant more market access to their firms.