India, Russia, China condemn terrorism
NEWDELHI: India, China and Russia on Monday called for stronger partnerships and concerted actions by the world community to counter all forms of terrorism and to disrupt terror financing, supply of arms, and spread of terrorist ideology.
A joint communiqué issued after the 15th meeting of the foreign ministers of Russia-indiaChina (RIC) here also called for those “committing, organising, inciting or supporting terrorist acts” to be held accountable and brought to justice under international law, including the principle of “extradite or prosecute”.
Though India flagged its concerns about Pakistan-based terror groups such as Lashkar-eTaiba, they were not named in the communiqué, which also did not single out any country for backing terror activities.
“I put across my view that significant rise in acts of terrorism by terrorist organisations like Taliban, Daesh (Islamic State), al-qaeda, and Lashkar-e-taiba directly undermine international peace and security and endanger ongoing efforts to strengthen the global economy and ensure sus- tainable growth,” external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj said at a joint press interaction with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.
Swaraj also called for a “comprehensive policy for dealing with global terrorism”.
LAVROV URGES INDIA TO JOIN CHINA’S BRI
Russia on Monday suggested India could benefit by joining China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) despite New Delhi’s misgivings about the project to build trade and transport links across Asia. Speaking at a think tank here after talks with his Chinese and Indian counterparts, Lavrov said India’s reservations about the BRI had figured in the meeting. “I know India has problems — we discussed it today —with the concept of One Belt, One Road, but the specific problem in this regard should not make everything else conditional to resolving political issues,” he told an audience that included National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and foreign secretary S Jaishankar. Lavrov noted India was a member of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), whose other members, including Russia, have signed up for BRI.