WASHINGTON, April 17: The US and India will hold talks in Washington from Wednesday on stepping up cooperation to combat global terrorism.
Proposals prepared for the meeting show growing US concern on the resurgence of Taliban-driven violence in Afghanistan. India, however, has proposed discussing Pakistan’s role “as a supporter of radical militancy” in the South Asian region.
The Indian team is also expected to argue that while the so-called cross-border terrorism in the Occupied Kashmir has decreased since 9/11, Pakistan-based militant groups continue to infiltrate the state for carrying out attacks.
Pakistan denies the allegation as baseless and says the militancy witnessed in Kashmir is linked to the suppression of the Kashmiri people by Indian armed forces and is home-grown.
KC Singh, additional secretary in the External Affairs Ministry, will lead the Indian delegation to the meeting of the joint working group on counter-terrorism. Henry A. Crumpton, coordinator for counter-terrorism in the US State Department, will head the American side.
The two sides would review terrorism in South Asia, Central Asia and Southeast Asia and discuss measures to strengthen multi-lateral mechanisms, officials said.
They will also discuss issues of general interest in the war on terror, such as source of financing, drug trafficking, civil aviation security, ideological and material support to terrorism and cyber security.
India is also asking for an early ratification and implementation of a treaty on mutual legal assistance against terrorism.
The last meeting of the Indo-US joint working group on counter-terrorism was held in New Delhi two years ago. During that meeting, both sides had agreed to continue with training and capacity building programmes and cooperation against narcotics trafficking and financing of terrorism.
