India, EU for joint effort to fight terrorism

NEW DELHI: Underlining their common concern over the threat from terrorism and extremism, India and EU on Friday adopted a Joint Statement on Cooperation in Combating Terrorism with a view to deepen their strategic and security cooperation. The 14th India-EU summit here saw the two sides expressing strong commitment to combat terrorism "in all its forms and manifestations, based on a comprehensive approach".

The statement condemned terror attacks across the world from Pathankot, Uri, Nagrota, Anantnag (Amarnath Yatra) and Srinagar to Paris, Brussels, Nice, Berlin, London, Stockholm, Manchester, Barcelona and Turkey.

It also recalled the November 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai and called for the perpetrators of these attacks to be brought to justice.

The joint statement on terrorism was issued following the meeting between PM Narendra Modi and EU representatives - Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, and Jean Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission.

While it did not name Pakistan, it mentioned that the two leaders agreed to strengthen cooperation to take decisive actions against globally proscribed terrorists and terror entities, including Hafeez Saeed, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, Dawood Ibrahim, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Hizbul-Mujahideen, Haqqani Network, al-Qaida, ISIS (Da'esh) and affiliates.

"The leaders called for the effective implementation of existing international commitments on countering terrorism, including the UN Global Counter Terrorism Strategy, relevant UN Security Council resolutions and targeted sanctions relating to terrorism,'' said the statement.

The talks for the much-awaited India-EU Free Trade Agreement remained stalled with no indication on when the negotiations were likely to resume.

Stating that the EU continues to be India's largest trading partner, Modi said it was one of the largest investors in India. Tusk said India and the EU want to develop the political dimension of the relationship.