U.S. to assist India in counter-terrorism

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, JUNE 27. India and the United States are moving beyond the sharing and exchange of information, with Washington willing to cooperate on institution building in India to deal with counter- terrorism.

Officials participating in the current discussions here say the interactions on terrorism and counter-terrorism are going on ``very well'' with the two sides intently focussed on the dangers of terrorism, including cyber-terrorism and weapons of mass destruction.

There is also further intensification of contacts between intelligence agencies of the two countries; and the U.S. is prepared to help in interdiction crisis management and prediction as well as consequences management. On the subject of a centre for counter-terrorism - a proposal put out by India - the U.S. is willing to help. But Indian officials say the proposal is only at the incipient stages.

``The Indian side welcomed the U.S. decision to qualitatively upgrade and widen the scope of the anti-terrorism training assistance programme... The Indian side welcomed the U.S. offer to share experience and expertise in strengthening counter- terrorism institutional structures in India,'' a joint statement at the end of the talks of the Joint Working Group on counter- terrorism said.

The third meeting of the JWG was held here on Tuesday with the Indian delegation being led by Mr. Jayant Prasad, Joint Secretary of the Americas Division in the Ministry of External Affairs. The U.S. delegation was headed by the Acting Coordinator for counter- terrorism, Mr. Edmund Hull. The meeting at the State Department also saw the participation of an inter-agency group of counter- terrorism and law enforcement officials and experts.

``The two sides expressed concern at the growing menace of international terrorism, extremism and drug trafficking. They unequivocally condemned all acts, methods and practices of terrorism as criminal and unjustifiable wherever and by whomever committed and whatever the considerations that may be invoked to justify them,'' the statement read.

The two sides agreed on the need to tighten the sanctions against the Taliban in Afghanistan. The consensus was that the Taliban continued to foster ``all that threatens the interest of both countries as well as regional and international stability''.

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Section  : International
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