July 14, 2002	Sunday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 3, 1423

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WASHINGTON, July 13: The United States and India on Friday pledged to redouble their efforts to battle the Al Qaeda network, after senior counter-terrorism experts from each side met for two days of talks in Washington.

In the fifth meeting of the US-India joint working group on counter-terrorism, the two sides highlighted their bid to deepen intelligence cooperation, which has accelerated since the September 11 attacks on New York and the Pentagon.

“The two sides agreed to further intensify intelligence sharing and coordinate action in pursuit of the remains of Al Qaeda members and associated terrorist groups,” US and Indian officials said in a joint statement.

“The delegations also discussed the nexus between weapons of mass destruction, proliferation and terrorism.”

“The past year has been a watershed for the two democracies in confronting the challenge of terrorism.”

Washington has spent considerable diplomatic capital trying to dampen down the resultant crisis between India and Pakistan, a nation which has emerged as a key ally in its campaign against terrorism.

The US team at the talks on Thursday and Friday was led by Francis Taylor, State Department Coordinator for Counterterrorism.

India’s delegation was led by Joint Secretary Jayant Prasad of the Ministry of External Affairs.—AFP