A joint statement after the seventeenth meeting of the US-India Counter Terrorism Joint Working Group and Designations Dialogue spoke of a ‘far-reaching conversation’ on counterterrorism cooperation

Officials from India and the US have asked Pakistan to quickly bring to justice the perpetrators of such attacks, including 26/11 Mumbai and Pathankot. They also reiterated that Pakistan must take “immediate, sustained, and irreversible action” to ensure that no territory under its control is used for terrorist attacks.

A joint statement after the seventeenth meeting of the US-India Counter Terrorism Joint Working Group and Designations Dialogue spoke of a “far-reaching conversation” on counterterrorism cooperation but no specifics were available.

Concurrently, at the third session of the US-India Designations Dialogue, both sides shared information about their priorities and procedures for pursuing sanctions and designations against terrorist groups and individuals, particularly in light of recent legislative changes in India.

Section 15 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) has been considerably amended to widen the definition of a “terrorist act”. It now includes designating individuals who have committed or intend to threaten the country’s integrity, security, economic security or intend to strike terror in the people in India or in any foreign country.

The joint statement of the last Counter Terrorism JWG meeting held over a year back had asked Pakistan to take “immediate, sustained, and irreversible action” to ensure that no territory under its control is used for terrorist attacks.

The Indian side was led by MEA’s Joint Secretary for Counter Terrorism Mahaveer Singhvi and Nathan Sales from the State Department led their delegation.

Both sides also denounced use of terrorist proxies and strongly condemned cross-border terrorism and exchanged views on threats posed by UN-sanctioned terrorist entities and emphasised the need for concerted action against all terrorist networks, including al-Qa’ida, ISIS/Daesh, Lashkar e-Tayyiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, and Hizb-ul Mujahideen. Of them, three are Pakistan-quartered.

Courtesy : Daily Tribune:  11thSeptember, 2020