India-US-Quad pledge to expand cooperation to combat terrorism

Vinod Bahade, Joint Secretary (counter-terrorism) in the Ministry of External Affairs, and Monica Jacobsen, Senior Bureau Official in the Bureau of Counterterrorism in the US Department of State, led their delegations.

During the meeting, India and the US sought additional punitive measures like asset freeze and arms embargo by the UN against Pakistan-based terror outfits Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, their proxy groups and backers.

The two sides also called for additional designations of ISIS and al-Qaeda affiliates. These terror groups were designated by the UN and they have already been facing various punitive actions under the global body’s sanctions regime.

In the talks, the Indian side thanked the US State Department for designating The Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy of LeT, as both a Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO) and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT).

The TRF had taken responsibility for the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.

The two sides emphasised that confronting terrorism requires concerted action in a sustained and comprehensive manner, according to a joint statement released Saturday.

Against this backdrop, the two sides renewed their commitment to strengthening multilateral cooperation in countering terrorism, including in the UN, Quad and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

“The two sides called for additional designations of ISIS and al-Qa’ida affiliates, and LeT and JeM and their proxy groups, supporters, sponsors, financiers and backers, under the UN 1267 sanctions regime, ensuring their members face a global asset freeze, travel ban and arms embargo,” the statement said.

The meetings underscored the importance of bilateral cooperation in countering terrorism, reflecting the “spirit and breadth” of the India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership, the statement said.

It said the two sides strongly condemned the terrorist attack in Pahalgam and the recent heinous terror incident near the Red Fort, while stressing that those responsible for terrorism should be held accountable.

“The two sides reviewed a wide range of traditional and emerging threats and challenges such as terrorist recruitment, abuse of technology for terrorist purposes, and financing of terrorism.” “Both sides discussed ways to strengthen cooperation against challenges, including through training, cybersecurity, exchange of best practices and information sharing through continued bilateral and multilateral efforts,” the statement noted.

India and the US also discussed strengthening law enforcement and judicial cooperation, including through information sharing and cooperation on mutual legal assistance requests.

In the Quad meeting, Bahade and Jacobsen were joined in by Gemma Huggins, Ambassador for Counter Terrorism, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Australia and Minami Hiroyuki, Ambassador in-charge of International Cooperation for Countering Terrorism and International Organized Crime, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan.

The Quad grouping called for bringing the perpetrators, organisers and financiers of last month’s terror incident to justice and urged all UN member states to cooperate on it.

“Quad partners unequivocally condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including cross-border terrorism,” a joint statement said.

The Quad partners “called for the perpetrators, organizers, and financiers of this reprehensible act to be brought to justice and urged all UN Member States to cooperate in doing so,” it added.

In the meeting, the Quad member countries exchanged assessments on the terrorism threat landscape, including developments in the Indo-Pacific region.

“They discussed the full spectrum of counter-terrorism cooperation and measures that could be used to address existing and emerging challenges,” the statement said.

The Quad underscored the importance of ensuring that the Indo-Pacific remains open and free from the threats of terrorism.

The Quad also reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening cooperation in multilateral fora.

“They also emphasised the value of continued information sharing on terrorists, terrorist organisations, and their proxies,” the statement said.