In his remarks to reporters after talks with Canada PM Justin Trudeau, Narendra Modi said India and Canada were also keen to ramp up economic ties. Photo: Reuters
New Delhi: Canada on Friday endorsed India’s stand on terrorism with a joint statement recognizing the menace and violent extremism as challenges to global peace, and both sides announcing a framework to fight them.
The two countries also signed six agreements to increase cooperation in the areas of IT, higher education and protection of intellectual property rights, after talks between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau.
“Recognizing that terrorism, violent extremism and radicalization to violence present acute challenges to global peace, stability and prosperity, the leaders resolved to combat terrorism and violent extremism in all their forms and manifestations,” the joint statement issued after the Modi-Trudeau meeting said.
“They called for bringing terrorists to justice and holding accountable state sponsors of terrorism, including cross-border terrorism. They further emphasized that no country should allow its territory to be used for terrorist and violent extremist activities,” it added.
A text of the framework of cooperation on countering terrorism and violent extremism put out by the Indian foreign ministry has named two Sikh terrorist groups—Babbar Khalsa International and the International Sikh Youth Federation—alongside groups like the Al Qaeda, the Islamic State and Pakistan-supported Lashkar-e-Taiba, blamed for many terrorist attacks on Indian soil.
The statements on counter-terrorism and framework for combating terrorism seem to be the major takeaways for India which has been upset by Canada’s stance on Sikh extremism. Trudeau’s Liberal Party is seen as sympathetic to Sikh groups—many of them seen as supporters of the Khalistan movement for a separate state for Sikhs carved out of India. Some members of Trudeau’s cabinet, like defence minister Harjit Singh Sajjan, are seen with suspicion in India for their alleged support to Khalistan—a charge that Sajjan denies.
On Thursday, the Canadian high commission rescinded an invitation sent to Jaspal Atwal, who was accused of trying to assassinate an Indian minister in 1986.
“Recalling that any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable regardless of their motivations, whenever, wherever and by whomever committed, the national security adviser of India and the national security and intelligence advisor of Canada reaffirmed the shared resolve of both India and Canada to combat terrorism and violent extremism in all their forms and manifestations,” the text on the framework on counter terrorism said.
India and Canada “recognized the urgent imperative to disrupt recruitment, terrorist movements and the flow of foreign terrorist fighters, address the threat posed by cross-border and state-sponsored terrorism, stop sources of terrorist financing, dismantle terrorist infrastructure and prevent supply of arms to terrorists and counter violent extremism and radicalization to violence. They emphasized the need to deny operating space to terrorist and violent extremist groups,” it added.
The objective of the “framework for cooperation on countering terrorism and violent extremism...is to facilitate effective cooperation between law enforcement and security agencies and legal and policy practitioners,” it said, adding that the “framework is based on fundamental respect for the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of India and Canada”.
In his remarks to reporters after talks with Trudeau, Modi said the two countries were also keen to ramp up economic ties. To give trade and commercial links a strong foundation, Modi said that he and Trudeau had directed their officials to speed up talks on a bilateral investment protection agreement and a comprehensive economic partnership agreement.
Modi added that he had also discussed the migration of skilled Indian labour to Canada that would help make Canadian society more competitive. Energy and civil nuclear cooperation were two other areas where Modi said he saw immense potential for cooperation.
In his comments, Trudeau described India as a “trusted friend in the commercial space”. He described his talks with Modi as productive and agreed that he shared the Indian prime minister’s views on all subjects discussed, though he did not mention terrorism. He highlighted trade, climate change and people-to-people ties as key areas for cooperation.
According to the joint statement, Afghanistan, Maldives, Myanmar and the North Korean nuclear and missile plans were among the issues Modi and Trudeau exchanged notes on under regional and international issues.
