India, Indonesia condemn terrorism, discuss cross-border terrorism at counter-terrorism JWG
New Delhi: India and Indonesia on Thursday strongly condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and exchanged views on threat assessments, including cross-border terrorism, at the seventh meeting of the India-Indonesia Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism in New Delhi, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.
The meeting was co-chaired by Suhel Ajaz Khan, Additional Secretary (Counter Terrorism) in the MEA, and Dionnisius Elvan Swasono, Deputy for International Cooperation at Indonesia’s National Counter Terrorism Agency (BNPT).
“As strategic partners, both the sides underscored the importance of bilateral cooperation in preventing and countering terrorism. Both sides unequivocally and strongly condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, and reaffirmed the principle of zero tolerance towards terrorism,” the MEA said in a statement.
The two sides exchanged views on the domestic, regional and global terrorism landscape and threat assessments, including cross-border terrorism.
“They discussed current and emerging challenges to counter-terrorism, including countering radicalisation and violent extremism conducive to terrorism, combating the financing of terrorism, the misuse of the internet and new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes, and the nexus between organised crime and terrorism,” the statement said.
Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening cooperation in multilateral fora, including the UN, ASEAN, BRICS and FATF, to combat global terrorism effectively.
“The ongoing cooperation in counter-terrorism remains an important element of the India-Indonesia comprehensive strategic partnership,” the MEA said, adding that the Indonesian delegation will visit the headquarters of the National Security Guard (NSG) on Friday to discuss avenues of bilateral capacity building.
The two sides agreed to hold the next meeting of the Joint Working Group in Jakarta on a mutually convenient date.
In July, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto strongly condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and agreed to enhance cooperation in preventing and countering terrorism and violent extremism conducive to terrorism.
“The leaders also welcomed the early conclusion of the MoU on Cooperation in Counter Terrorism between the two countries, to be signed in the near future,” the India-Indonesia Joint Statement had mentioned.