India and UK to boost anti-terror ties
LEADERS AGREE TO DENY TERRORIST ORGANISATIONS A SPACE TO RADICALISE, RECRUIT AND CONDUCT ATTACKS
India and Britain yesterday condemned terrorism in all its forms and agreed to strengthen cooperation to take “decisive and concerted actions” against globally-proscribed terrorists and terror entities while naming Pakistan-based terror outfits following talks between Prime Ministers Narendra Modi of India and Theresa May of Britain.
In a significant move, the two sides also agreed to work together for an open, inclusive and prosperous Indo-Pacific region.
At the breakfast meeting between Modi and May at her 10 Downing Street residence, the two leaders discussed their shared priorities in the IndoPacific and committed to working more closely together to ensure it remained free and open.
“They reflected on the progress made on bilateral defence and security cooperation since (May’s) visit to India in 2016 and the agreement on a number of defence capability partnerships in key strategic areas, with closer military-to-military ties underpinned by a succession of high level visits and exchanges,” a Downing Street spokesperson said.
“They agreed to continue working together closely to combat terrorism, radicalisation and online extremism.”
A joint statement issued following the meeting said the two leaders reiterated their strong condemnation of terrorism in all its forms, including terrorism and terror-related incidents in both India and Britain.
“Both leaders also affirmed that terrorism cannot be justified on any grounds whatsoever it may be and it should not be associated with any religion, creed, nationality and ethnicity,” the statement said.
It said that both leaders agreed that terrorist and extremist organisations need to be denied space to radicalise, recruit and conduct attacks on innocent people; for this all countries need to work together to disrupt terrorist networks, their financing and movement of terrorists, including foreign terrorists.
Chemical weapons
“The leaders agreed to strengthen cooperation to take decisive and concerted actions against globally-proscribed terrorists and terror entities to protect our citizens, including Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, Haqqani Network, Al Qaida, ISIS (Daesh) and their affiliates as well as tackling the online ■ radicalisation and violent extremism which feeds this,” the statement said.
It also said that a secure, free, open, inclusive and prosperous Indo-Pacific was in the interests of India, Britain and the international community.
“The UK and India will also work together to tackle threats such as piracy, protect freedom of navigation and open access, and improve maritime domain awareness in the region,” it stated.
This assumes significance given China’s aggression in the South China Sea and attempts to increase its footprints in the Indo-Pacific region.
India, along with the US, Japan and Australia, recently revived a quad in the Indo-Pacific.
At their meeting, Modi and May discussed the nerve attack on an ex-Soviet spy and his daughter in Britain and the chemical attack in Syria, “expressing concern and making clear their opposition to the use of chemical weapons by any party in any circumstances”.
“In the wake of the appalling nerve agent attack in Salisbury, the UK and India have reiterated their shared interest in strengthening the disarmament and non-proliferation regimes against the spread and use of chemical weapons,” the joint statement said. ■ ■