India, Britain to join hands against terrorism

By Thomas Abraham

LONDON JAN 14. India and Britain have agreed on measures to cooperate against terrorism at a meeting between the External Affairs Minister, Mr. Jaswant Singh, and his British counterpart Mr. Robin Cook.

Speaking to journalists after a two-hour meeting over lunch, Mr. Cook said he and Mr. Singh had agreed to ``giving the highest priority to defeating global terrorism and to making sure we cooperate fully in winning this battle.''

Speaking to Indian journalists later, Mr. Singh said both countries had agreed on certain steps which would be made public later.

The recent hijacking of an Indian Airlines aircraft and steps to combat terrorism were the major focus. Mr. Cook said he had expressed his personal appreciation of Mr. Singh's role in bringing the hijacking issue to a close. Mr. Singh said the hijacking was ``fully discussed'' and that India would be sharing information with Britain.

Mr. Cook briefed Mr. Singh on the British Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Sir Charles Guthrie's visit to Pakistan and emphasised that there had been no softening of Britain's attitude towards the military regime. Also the visit had not been in connection with British arms sales to Pakistan.

``There was no discussion of arms sales, and there are no arms sales between Britain and Pakistan,'' he said. The Guthrie's visit had raised some concern in New Delhi, and Mr. Cook was at pains to explain to Mr. Singh that Britain was not changing its opposition to the Musharraf regime.

The visit was to explain two aspects of British policy to Gen Musharraf: that Britain expected the military regime to take steps to restore democracy and set up an accountable government; and that it expected the regime to respect its obligations to maintain regional stability and combat terrorism. The visit was to ``make sure that our policy is understood,'' he said.

Mr. Cook reiterated Britain's interest in seeing India sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). That would be not only in India's interest, but also in the interest of regional stability. The ministers characterised the meeting as excellent and declared that bilateral relations were in an ``excellent shape.''

This is in contrast to the freeze in the ties in the wake of the Pokhran II nuclear tests, when officials and Ministers on both sides avoided all contact. Mr. Cook and Mr. Singh have established a good personal rapport and referred warmly to each other at their joint press conference.

They announced the formation of an Indo-British Round Table, a think-tank that would suggest ways to strengthen bilateral relations. Mr. Singh said he had invited Mr. Cook to visit New Delhi to inaugurate the first meeting of the new body at a date to be fixed by both governments.

Ways to stimulate the growth of bilateral trade were also discussed. It had reached the highest-ever level, but Mr. Singh said ``the full potential of Indo-British trade has yet to be realised.''

Mr. Singh earlier met the British Defence Secretary, Mr. Geoff Hoon, and is expected to meet the British Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. John Prescott on Monday.

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