India and France on Thursday condemned terrorism in all its manifestations saying it cannot be justified on any grounds whatsoever and called for halting cross-border movements of terror outfits including Jaish-e-Mohammed, Hizbul Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Taiba which are based in Pakistan and engage in anti-India activities, particularly in Jammu and Kashmir.
In a joint statement issued after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's talks with French President Emmanuel Macron, the two countries called for efforts to root out terrorist safe havens and infrastructure.
They agreed to strengthen counter-terrorism efforts in multilateral fora such as the United Nations, Global Counterterrorism Forum, Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and G20.
Both the leaders agreed to work for early convening of a global conference, proposed by India, to tackle the threat of terrorism around the world.
They said terrorism should not be associated with any religion or ethnicity.
"The two leaders reiterated their strong condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations including cross-border terrorism and terror-related incidents in France and India. Both leaders reaffirmed that terrorism cannot be justified on any grounds whatsoever and it should not be associated with any religion, creed, nationality and ethnicity," the statement said.
Recalling the joint statement on terrorism adopted by the two countries in January 2016, the two leaders reaffirmed their strong determination to eliminate terrorism wherever it is to be found and urged the international community to strengthen the efforts to counter and prevent terrorist financing.
"They called upon all UN member countries to implement the UNSC Resolution 2462 on Fighting Terrorist Financing adopted last March 28 and welcomed the organization in Melbourne on November 7-8 of a new 'No Money for Terror' International Conference on Fighting Terrorist Financing, which will build on the April 2018 Conference organized in Paris by the French Government and the Paris Agenda," the statement said.
"They also called upon all countries to work together for rooting out terrorist safe havens and infrastructure, disrupting terrorist networks and their financing channels, and halting cross-border movement of terrorists belonging to Al Qaeda, Daesh/ISIS, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Hizbul Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Tayabba, and their affiliates as well as terrorist groups threatening peace and security in South Asia and the Sahel region," the statement added.
The two leaders agreed to enhance their operational cooperation and launch fresh efforts to prevent and fight radicalization, especially online radicalisation.
"The two leaders reaffirmed their support for the implementation of the Christchurch Call to Action to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist online content adopted in Paris last May 15. They agreed to strengthen counter-terrorism efforts in multilateral fora such as UN, GCTF, FATF, G20. They called upon all UN member countries to implement the UNSC Resolution 1267 and other relevant resolutions designating terrorist entities," it said.
The leaders also agreed to work together on early adoption of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) in the UN.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
