India, Saudi Arabia to set up council to deepen anti-terrorism cooperation

Published March 12, 2019
Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj, right, shakes hand with her Saudi Arabian counterpart Adel al-Jubeir before their delegation level meeting in New Delhi, India, on Monday. — AP
Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj, right, shakes hand with her Saudi Arabian counterpart Adel al-Jubeir before their delegation level meeting in New Delhi, India, on Monday. — AP

India and Saudi Arabia on Monday agreed to set up a "strategic partnership council" to deepen cooperation to combat terrorism.

Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel bin Ahmed al-Jubeir discussed the proposal with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj during a brief visit to New Delhi on Monday, according to a statement issued by India's foreign ministry.

Without naming any country, Swaraj said “an immediate irreversible and verifiable action to dismantle terror infrastructure is essential to fight the menace of terrorism.”

Al-Jubeir called on the Indian leadership days after he visited Pakistan, where he held meetings with Prime Minister Imran Khan, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa.

The minister had at the time assured Islamabad of Saudi Arabia's "support to seek peaceful settlement of all outstanding disputes between Pakistan and India".

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had offered intelligence sharing and other cooperation with India in fighting extremism and terrorism during his visit to New Delhi last month.

His visit came at a time of heightened tension between nuclear rivals India and Pakistan following a suicide attack on an Indian convoy of paramilitary forces in Indian-occupied Kashmir that left 40 soldiers dead.

Opinion

Editorial

Lawless city
22 Sep, 2023

Lawless city

A GRIM milestone has just been passed in Karachi. The recent death of a teenage robbery victim brings the number of...
Another Sharif trip
22 Sep, 2023

Another Sharif trip

THE sudden arrival of former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif in London, a mere 48 hours after he touched down in...
Delayed elections
Updated 22 Sep, 2023

Delayed elections

If ECP wishes to affirm that it is serious, it should start moving on all pending matters so that the possibility of any further delay is minimised.
What next?
Updated 21 Sep, 2023

What next?

One wonders that if administrative measures were all that were needed to arrest the rupee’s sorry slide, why were they not taken sooner?
Greater representation
21 Sep, 2023

Greater representation

PAKISTAN now stands at a significant juncture, with the names of 11.7m more women added to the voter list, ...
Lost generations
21 Sep, 2023

Lost generations

IF those who wield power in Pakistan think that the nation can progress when tens of millions of its children have...