India, China to strengthen anti-terror mechanism

Nov 22, 2015, DHNS & PTI:

Enhancing bilateral cooperation on security issues, India and China on Saturday announced that they will strengthen cooperation in combating terrorism, exchanging information on terrorist activities and groups through a dedicated mechanism.
Issuing a joint statement following discussions between Home Minister Rajnath Singh and top Chinese leaders and security officials, both sides also said they have decided to coordinate positions on “anti-terrorism endeavours at regional and multilateral levels and supporting each other”.

They will also exchange experiences on anti-hijacking, hostage situations and other terrorism-related crimes besides agreeing to exchanges by groups of counter-terrorism experts to discuss counter-terrorism cooperation.

The joint statement was released coinciding with the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang in Kuala Lumpur on the sidelines of the Asean Summit. 

During the meeting, Modi and Li discussed bilateral ties and global issues of mutual concern, even as the prime minister underlined that the two countries should increase strategic coordination.

Modi told Li that there was a need for the international community to eschew their political differences and unite to face the menace, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson  Vikas Swarup told reporters.

Li said China was against terrorism and cooperation between the two countries would help Asia become more safe. The two leaders felt that slowing down of global trade offers an opportunity for both India and China to work together and become drivers of global growth. Indian officials believe that cooperation on terrorism would help them tackle the north-east insurgent groups operating from China. 

The joint statement also said that the two countries would strengthen the cooperation in the fields of drug-related crimes, cyber crimes including telecom fraud, economic crimes, illegal immigration activities, illegal trafficking in firearms and ammunition and other transnational crimes and encourage the long-term, healthy and stable development of law enforcement cooperation between them. 

Both the countries would also establish India-China High Level Meeting Mechanism led by the home minister and the minister of public security of China. 

The meetings would be held alternatively in Beijing and Delhi once every two years. To assist the minister-level meeting mechanism, a Joint Secretary/Director General-level meeting mechanism led by the International Cooperation Departments of the two ministries will also be established.