WASHINGTON: In a joint statement issued on the conclusion of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s four-day visit, the United States and India vowed to work together to dismantle Al Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Taiba and their affiliates.

The statement also urged Pakistan to bring the perpetrators of the November 2008 terrorist attack in Mumbai to justice.

The two countries committed themselves to making “joint and concerted efforts to disrupt all financial and tactical support” to “Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, the D-Company, the Haqqanis” and Al Qaeda.

D-Company is a term coined by the Indian media for a criminal group controlled by an Indian crime boss, Dawood Ibrahim. Delhi claims Mr Ibrahim lives in Pakistan. Islamabad denies.

Joint statement urges Pakistan to bring elements behind Mumbai attacks to justice

In their joint statement, US President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Modi also expressed “deep concern over the continued threat posed by terrorism,” and underlined the need for “continued comprehensive global efforts to combat and defeat terrorism.”

On Wednesday, the US Treasury Department slapped sanctions on two Pakistan-based terrorist organisations — LeT and Harakat ul-Mujahidin (HuM) — and froze the assets of their leaders.

The announcement claimed that the assets were used for providing financial support to LeT, which is accused of carrying out the Mumbai terror attacks.

The Treasury notification described HuM as “a terrorist group that operates throughout India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, and maintains terrorist training camps in eastern Afghanistan.”

According to the notification, in 2005, HuM attacks in Kashmir killed at least 15 people, and in 2007, an unspecified number of Indian troops were also killed in a firefight with HuM militants in the area.

To date, the Treasury Department has designated 27 individuals and three entities associated with LeT.

Published in Dawn, October 2nd, 2014