India, Spain on the same page in anti-terror fight
madrid — India and Spain on Wednesday committed to cooperate in the fight against terrorism calling it the gravest threat to international peace and stability even as the two sides expressed the need to restart negotiations for an EU-India Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement (BITA).
“Both India and Spain have faced terrorism,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said while addressing the media ahead of talks with his Spanish counterpart Mariano Rajoy at La Moncloa, the official residence of the Spanish Prime Minister.
“Terrorism and extremism pose the biggest challenge to the world today,” Modi said.
“Strengthening cooperation between us in the fight against terrorism is a key element of our bilateral agenda.”
A joint statement issued following the meeting between the two leaders said both “recognised that terrorism poses the gravest threat to international peace and stability and expressed their strong commitment to combat terrorism in all its forms and manifestations”.
According to the statement, Modi and Rajoy “expressed their strong commitment to reinforce their cooperation in the fight against terrorism, through regular bilateral consultations and cooperation and in the international fora”.
The two leaders also called on the international community to end selective or partial approaches to combating terrorism and in this regard jointly called for the early finalisation and adoption of the India-initiated Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism by the UN General Assembly.
Modi and Rajoy underlined the importance of European Union (EU)-India relations and the need to deepen the existing EU-India dialogues.
“They acknowledged the positive results of 2016 EU-India Summit in March 2016, which marked a new momentum in the EU-India relations,” the statement said.
“They addressed the shared interest of the two sides to further engage on the India-EU Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement and expressed the need to restart negotiations soon.”