New Delhi: India and France condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and stressed on the need for strengthening international cooperation to combat terrorism in a comprehensive and sustained manner.

At the 14th Meeting of Joint Working Group on Counter Terrorism held in New Delhi this month, it was attended by an inter-agency Indian delegation led by Mahaveer Singhvi, Joint Secretary for Counter Terrorism, Ministry of External Affairs, while the French delegation was led by David Bertolotti, Assistant Secretary of State for Strategic, Security and Disarmament Affairs of the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs.

They exchanged views on current counter-terrorism challenges including countering radicalisation, combating financing of terrorism, preventing use of internet for terrorist purposes, threats posed by internationally designated terrorist entities as well as cross-border terrorism in South Asian region. Both sides stressed upon the need to deny safe havens and sources of financing to terrorists.

They agreed to further strengthen counter-terrorism cooperation, as a cornerstone of the strategic partnership between India and France, interalia, through regular exchange of information, joint capacity building efforts, mutual legal assistance, sharing best practices for countering terrorism and radicalisation and cooperating in multilateral fora such as Untied Nations and FATF.

They intend to work closely in view of the third edition of the “No Money for Terror” International Conference on Fighting Terrorist Financing being organised by India later this year.

It was decided that the next meeting of the Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism shall be held in France in 2021.