India, Russia stress need for eliminating 'safe havens' of terrorists

Strongly condemning terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, India and Russia on Wednesday stressed the need for the elimination of all "safe havens" of terrorists "once and for all".

The commitment was made during the 11th meeting of the India-Russia Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism that was held here.

A composite Indian delegation was led by Vijay Thakur Singh, Secretary (East), Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) while the Russian delegation was led by Oleg V. Syromolotov, Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia.

"Both sides condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and emphasised the need for strengthening international cooperation to combat terrorism in a comprehensive and sustained manner without any double standards. They exchanged views on threats posed by terrorist entities globally and in their respective regions as well as ongoing concerns over terrorism in the South Asia region," the MEA statement said.

"They stressed the need for elimination, once and for all, of all 'safe havens' of terrorists. They also underlined the urgent need for meaningful, credible, irreversible, verifiable and sustainable action against terrorists and terrorist groups," it added.

Both sides highlighted their efforts on some of the world's most pressing counter-terrorism challenges including countering radicalisation and extremism, misuse of internet for terrorist purposes, movement of foreign fighters and combating the financing of terrorism including drug trafficking.

"The two sides also deliberated upon measures to further strengthen and deepen counter-terrorism cooperation through intensifying exchange of information, regular meetings at experts level, sharing of best practices and capacity building efforts in all areas of mutual interest in accordance with the special and privileged strategic partnership that exists between the two countries," the statement said.

India and Russia agreed that united efforts should be made to fight against terrorism and terrorism financing at multilateral forums including the UN, BRICS, FATF and SCO.

It was decided that the next meeting will be held in Russia on mutually convenient dates, according to the statement.