India and the European Union (EU) discussed ways to deepen relations between India and European law enforcement authorities at the 14th Counter-Terrorism Dialogue between the two sides in New Delhi on Tuesday.
”The dialogue was an opportunity to continue and enhance cooperation on this important element of the EU-India Strategic Partnership. The EU and India strongly condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and emphasised the need for strengthening international cooperation in dealing with counter terrorism challenges,” a press release by the Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday.
They agreed that cooperation in multilateral fora such as the United Nations and the Global Counter terrorism Forum (GCTF) remained crucial.
The meeting allowed for an in depth discussion on regional threat assessments, key Counter-Terrorism policy developments, including state sponsored and cross-border terrorism, countering terrorism financing, preventing online radicalisation and exchanging on the impact of new and disruptive technologies, including their consequences for the threat and their use in countering terrorism.
The two sides welcomed the signing of the working arrangement between Europol and the Indian Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
They emphasised the importance of strengthening counter-terrorism cooperation through exchange of information, capacity building, strengthening law enforcement and judicial partnerships.
The dialogue was co-chaired by Joanneke Balfoort, Director for Security and Defence Policy in the European External Action Service and Ambassador K D Dewal, Joint Secretary for Counter-Terrorism in MEA. The EU’s Belgian Presidency chair of the COTER ( Commission for Territorial Cohesion Policy and EU Budget) Working Group, Nicolas Nihon also took part in the Dialogue.