Pakistan and India agree to joint terror crackdown

THE prime ministers of nuclear-armed rivals Pakistan and India agreed at a rare meeting to co-operate on eliminating terrorism in south Asia, Pakistan’s foreign ministry said.

In a sign of easing relations, Indian prime minister Narendra Modi also accepted his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif’s invitation to attend a south Asian regional summit to be held in Islamabad next year.

“Both sides condemned terrorism in all its forms and agreed to co-operate with each other to eliminate the menace of terrorism from south Asia,” Pakistani foreign secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry said.

Sharif and Modi met in the Russian city of Ufa, where they are attending summits of the Brics trade group and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.

Pakistani television showed the pair shaking hands and smiling.

The hostility between Pakistan and India dates back seven decades, but strains have grown since nationalist Mr Modi took office a year ago.

Last month, US secretary of state John Kerry voiced “enormous” concern over heightened tensions between the two countries.

Both sides have accused the other of fomenting terrorism. Pakistan alleges that India’s spy agency is behind violence in the southwestern Balochistan province and north-western tribal regions.

New Delhi denies the charge, saying Pakistan should present solid evidence to back up its claim.

India and Pakistan have fought two wars over Kashmir, which has been divided between them since British colonialists left in 1947.