India and the US on Tuesday strongly condemned cross border terrorism in all its forms and asked Pakistan to take "immediate, sustained and irreversible" action to ensure that no territory under its control is used for launching terror attacks. The issue of cross-border terrorism figured in the third edition of the Indo-US 2+2 ministerial dialogue that discussed a plethora of security challenges facing India's neighbourhood and beyond. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held the talks with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defence Secretary Mark T Esper. Both sides were assisted by their top military and security officials. A joint statement issued after the talks said both sides denounced the use of terrorist proxies and strongly condemned cross border terrorism in all its forms while emphasising the need for concerted action against all terrorist networks, including Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, al-Qaeda and ISIS/Daesh. At a joint media briefing with his American counterpart Mike Pompeo, US Defence Secretary Mark Esper and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Jaishankar said: "We made clear that cross-border terrorism is completely unacceptable." The joint statement said the ministers called on Pakistan to take immediate, sustained and irreversible action to ensure that no territory under its control is used for launching terrorist attacks, and to expeditiously bring to justice the perpetrators and planners of all such attacks, including 26/11 Mumbai, Uri, and Pathankot. "The ministers also committed to continued exchange of information about sanctions and designations against terror groups and individuals, particularly in light of recent legislative changes in India," it said. The two sides also vowed to take steps against financing and operations of terrorist organisations, countering radicalism and terrorist use of the internet, cross-border movement of terrorists, and prosecuting, rehabilitating, and reintegrating returning terrorist fighters and family members, according to the statement.

Courtesy: State Times: 28th October 2020