India, Netherlands call for targeting 'terror masterminds' not only 'foot soldiers'

In an indirect reference to Pakistan, India and the Netherlands have said that the fight against the terrorism should also target the 'masterminds' and not only the 'foot soldiers'.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Tuesday stressed that there can be no justification for acts of terror on any grounds whatsoever and agreed that there should be zero-tolerance on terrorism.

In a joint statement, both the Prime Ministers said that "the fight against terrorism should not only seek to disrupt and bring to justice terrorists, terror organisations and networks, but should also identify, hold accountable and take strong measures against all those who encourage, support and finance terrorism, provide sanctuary to terrorists and terror groups, and falsely extol their virtues".

PM Modi and PM Rutte expressed concern about the serious and grave threat posed by the spread of terrorism and violent extremism to both countries and the world.

The joint statement strongly condemned the use of double standards in addressing the menace of terrorism and agreed to strengthen cooperation in combating terrorism both at the bilateral level and within the multilateral system.

In this regard, they called for early conclusion of negotiations on the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism.

They also reiterated the need for a unified and collective effort by the international community to eliminate terrorism through a holistic approach.

The Prime Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to combat terrorism and prevent radicalization that could lead to violent extremism and reiterated the need for a unified and collective effort by the international community to eliminate terrorism through a holistic approach.

Prime Minister Modi is in Netherlands, the final destination of his three-nation tour which also included a two-day visit to the United States and a day's visit to Portugal.

In his three-nation tour, PM Modi has exposed Pakistan's pro-terror policy.

It was due to PM Modi's efforts, for the first time the Indo-US Joint Statement asked Pakistan not to let its territory be used to launch terror attacks.

The statement said that "the leaders (PM Modi and President Trump) called on Pakistan to ensure that its territory is not used to launch terrorist attacks on other countries. They further called on Pakistan to expeditiously bring to justice the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai, Pathankot, and other cross-border terrorist attacks perpetrated by Pakistan-based groups".

The two India-US joint statements in 2016 during former US President Barack Obama only asked Islamabad to take strong action against the masterminds of the Mumbai and other terror attacks.