India, US call on Pakistan to ensure its territory is not used for terror

India and the US have called on Pakistan to take immediate, sustained, and irreversible actions to ensure that no territory under its control is used for terrorist attacks.

In a joint statement issued on the fourth India-US 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar, US Secretary of State Antony J Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd J Austin III welcomed the convening of the 18th Meeting of the India-US Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism and the 4th Session of the India-US Designations Dialogue in October 2021.

Expressing strong condemnation against the use of terrorist proxies and cross-border terrorism in all its forms, the ministers called for the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai attack, and Pathankot attack, to be brought to justice.

They called for concerted action against all terrorist groups, including groups proscribed by the United Nations Security Council 1267 Sanctions Committee, such as al-Qa'ida, Islamic State (Deash), Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT), and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), and Hizb ul Mujahideen.

The two sides committed to the continued exchange of information about sanctions and designations against terror groups and individuals, countering violent radicalism, use of the Internet for terrorist purposes, and cross-border movement of terrorists.

They also emphasized the importance of upholding international standards on anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism by all countries, consistent with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations.

The ministers also reaffirmed their support for the early adoption of a UN Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) that advances and strengthens the framework for global cooperation and reinforces that no cause or grievance justifies terrorism.

Both sides also looked forward to the next India-US Counter Narcotics Working Group meeting in 2022 and enhancing cooperation through a bilateral Counter-Narcotics Framework to combat drug trafficking, illicit narcotics production, and precursor chemical supply chains.

Building upon the recent Senior Officials Meeting between the US Department of Homeland Security and India's Ministry of Home Affairs, both sides looked forward to reconvening a Ministerial meeting of the India-US Homeland Security Dialogue in 2022.

The US-India 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin and External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh was held on Monday in Washington.

In a statement, the Pentagon said defence and foreign ministers of the two countries forged new and deeper cooperation across the breadth of the US-India partnership, including defence, science and technology, trade, climate, public health, and people-to-people ties.