America
India, US to transform ties into counter-terrorism partnership
By
By Arun Kumar Washington, Sep 23
India and the US have
agreed to transform their relationship into "a defining
counter-terrorism partnership for the 21st century" and again called on
Pakistan to bring perpetrators of 2008 Mumbai terror attacks to justice.
The
call was made on Tuesday in an India-US Joint Declaration on Combating
Terrorism issued at the end of the first India-US Strategic and
Commercial Dialogue that set the stage for Prime Minister Narendra
Modi's third summit with President Barack Obama next week.
External
Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and US Secretary of State John Kerry,
who led the dialogue, "reaffirmed the commitment of India and the United
States to combat terrorism in all its forms," the declaration said.
Describing
terrorism as "a profound threat to global peace and security, and to
uphold our common values of democracy, justice, and the rule of law,"
the declaration reaffirmed Obama and Modi's "vision to transform the
US-India relationship into a defining counterterrorism partnership for
the 21st century."
The declaration also "reiterated the threat
posed by entities such as Al-Qaeda and its affiliates, Lashkar-e-Taeba,
Jaish-e-Mohammad, D Company, and the Haqqani Network, and other regional
groups that seek to undermine stability in South Asia."
Calling
on Pakistan to bring to justice the perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai
attack, Swaraj and Kerry strongly condemned the July 27, 2015 terrorist
attack in Gurdaspur, Punjab, and August 5, 2015, attack in Udhampur,
Jammu and Kashmir.
Swaraj and Kerry, the declaration said, had
also commended the continuing efforts to finalise a bilateral agreement
to expand intelligence sharing and terrorist watch-list information.
They
also commended progress toward India's entry into the US Department of
Homeland Security Global Entry Programme and the inclusion of Mumbai in
the Strong Cities Network, a forum to build sub-national resiliency
against violent extremism,
Continuing discussions on Extradition
and Mutual Legal Assistance were also commended as also the US-India
Megacity Policing Exchange, an initiative to deepen collaboration on
training and community policing between local and state law enforcement.
Swaraj
and Kerry also commended progress toward a Memorandum of Understanding
between the Indian National Police Academy (Hyderabad) and the New York
Police Department.
The proposed next meeting of the Homeland Security Dialogue will be held in early 2016.
The
declaration also recognised the serious threat posed by ISIL/Daesh to
global security and affirmed efforts to degrade and defeat this threat
in accordance with the provisions of UN Security Council Resolutions.
The
declaration recalled the signing of the US-India Counter-terrorism
Cooperation Initiative (CCI), establishment of the Homeland Security
Dialogue in 2010, and several other joint initiatives.
It also
reaffirmed their support for a UN Comprehensive Convention against
International Terrorism that advances and strengthens the framework for
global cooperation and reinforces that no cause or grievance justifies
terrorism.
Swaraj and Kerry also commended the meeting of the
US-India Terrorist Designations Exchange in July 2015 to strengthen
cooperation on domestic terrorist designations.
Also commended was the proposed next round of the Counter-terrorism Joint Working Group in early 2016.
So
were discussions on cyber security at the US-India Cyber Dialogue in
August 2015 and continuing close cooperation on cyber security and
information sharing.
(Arun Kumar can be contacted at [email protected])