Modi discussed defence with Palestine, says foreign secy, gives no details

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday discussed terrorism, defence and national security cooperation with Palestine and Jordan during his visit.

Saturday morning's "Jammu and Kashmir attack in [Sunjwan camp] was also discussed with the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Prime Minister Narendra Modi told him that we should fight against terrorism together and added that it is well known where those actions are emanating from and India will take all necessary steps to ensure to fight terrorism," Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said in a media briefing in Abu Dhabi.

Gokhale also threw light on the fact that King of Jordan Abdullah II started Aqaba process and has worked on the issue of deradicalization.

"Both the leaders [Indian and the Jordanian] agreed that terrorism poses a huge challenge and has to be countered in unison. The King appreciated that India is a moderate society even after all these years," the Foreign Secretary added.

Dwelling upon the defence and security cooperation, Gokhale explained that, "Defence and security was discussed with Palestine but I am not at the liberty to disclose the particulars."

The Foreign Security also underscored that India does not have any specific defence cooperation with Jordan by far. Most recently a joint meeting in this regard was held in December.

"We are looking at some of the requests that the Jordanian side put forward for capacity building including in the area of cyber security and in the area of maintenance of equipment," he added.

Indian Ambassador to the UAE Navdeep Singh Suri highlighted UAE's stance on combating terrorism.

"In terms of fight against terrorism, the UAE has zero tolerance policy and not only that, they have very aggressive programme to counter extremism and deradicalisation," Ambassador Suri added, "Not only do we talk about terrorism in general terms but also cooperate on specific terms ."

Outlining the details of the defence and security cooperation with the UAE, the Ambassador noted, "We have important and growing defence cooperation. We have had regular training exercises and regular exchange of visits. The new thing is the first ever bilateral naval exercise that will be conducted in March right here."

The Ambassador stated that both UAE and India have common interest in maritime security.