In what is being interpreted as an indictment of Pakistan, India and Australia have underlined the urgent need for all countries to take immediate, sustained, verifiable and irreversible action to ensure that no territory under their control was used for terrorist attacks and to expeditiously bring to justice the perpetrators of such attacks.
Australia also reiterated its condemnation of terrorist attacks in India, including the 26/11 Mumbai, Pathankot and Pulwama attacks, and reiterated its support for the people and the government of India in the global fight against terrorism.
The 13th meeting of the India-Australia Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism was held in-person yesterday in Canberra. Mahaveer Singhvi, Joint Secretary for Counter-Terrorism at the Ministry of External Affairs, and Roger Noble, Ambassador for Counter-Terrorism in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Australia led the respective delegations of experts to discuss the ongoing counter-terrorism cooperation between the two countries.
Both sides underlined their commitment to coordinate and collaborate on this important element of the India-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
The two countries exchanged views on various areas of cooperation in the sphere of counter-terrorism, including countering radicalisation and violent extremism; combating the financing of terrorism; the proscription of terrorist individuals and entities as a tool to combat terrorism; preventing the exploitation of the internet for terrorism; law enforcement cooperation; information sharing and capacity building.
Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to work closely together to respond to these challenges and discussed ways to deepen engagement between their respective counterpart agencies to further advance interaction, cooperation, and information sharing in the sphere of counter-terrorism.