India, Canada
India and Canada adopted a Framework for Cooperation on Countering Terrorism and Violent Extremism, which national security advisor Ajit Doval and his Canadian counterpart Daniel Jean were tasked to work on. In a first-of- its-kind statement, two sides said they are “committed to work together to neutralise the threats emanating from terrorist groups such as Al Qaida, ISIS, the Haqqani Network, Lashkar e-toiba, Jaish-e-mohammed, Babbar Khalsa International, and the International Sikh Youth Federation.”
For New Delhi, the clubbing of banned Sikh insurgent groups with global terrorist outfits, including ones based out of Pakistan that target India, is a significant achievement.
The two sides decided to further develop exchanges and facilitate “effective cooperation in the fields of security, finance, justice, and law enforcement, including, where appropriate, at the operational level,” as per the framework agreement.
The joint statement after the meeting also found enough mention of terrorism and “emphasised that no country should allow its territory to be used for terrorist and violent extremist activities”.
A ministry official said that while Khalistan had not been referred in any of the statements issued after the meeting, India’s concern found explicit expression in the naming of these banned groups. The issue of proKhalistan activism in Canada, often due to the soft approach of local politicians including some in Trudeau’s government, was a focus of the discussions between the two prime ministers, another Indian official said.
“First of all, we agreed on strengthening our security cooperation. Terrorism and separatism are dangers to democratic, pluralistic societies like India and Canada. It is important for us to come together to counter such forces,” Modi said.
While six agreements were signed in the presence of the two PMS, neither the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement nor the Bilateral Investment and Promotion Agreement were inked. However, Modi said negotiators had been asked for “redouble” their efforts in finalising these pacts that are necessary to give the economic partnership an “institutional framework.”
Trudeau stressed the need to expand India-canada trade and commercial ties. “As Canada looks to diversify its own econ- omy and looks for new opportu- nities to do business beyond its boundaries, India is a natural partner and a trusted friend for commercial cooperation,” he said.
Trudeau met external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj prior to his summit encounter with Modi. Later, all six ministers accompanying Trudeau -including Indo-canadian ministers Navdeep Bains, Harjit Sajjan, Amarjeet Sohi and Bardish Chagger -- also met with Modi.
Trudeau has invited Modi for a return visit to Canada “at an early date”; an invitation that Modi “accepted”. “we have no charges against him.” India says it has provided evidence against Saeed to Pakistan. On Thursday, White House spokesman Raj Shah said Trump was not yet satisfied with Pakistan’s progress in fighting terrorism. However, Pakistan’s government has said any financial squeeze will ultimately aid extremism.
“If Pakistan faces any economic hardship because of this, it’s going to affect our budget and capacity to fight the anti-terrorism war,” Pakistan’s interior minister Ahsan Iqbal said on Monday. “The question is whether these nations want to help terrorists or the war against terrorism?”