New Delhi: British Prime Minister Theresa May on Monday joined her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi in demanding strong action against those who support terrorism and provide sanctuary to its perpetrators after he voiced deep concern over cross-border terrorism, in an obvious reference to Pakistan.
The leaders called upon Pakistan to bring to justice the perpetrators of the November 2008 and 2016 terrorist attacks in Mumbai and Pathankot as May condemned the terror strike on the Indian Army Brigade headquarters in Uri in September.
As many as 19 soldiers were killed in the attack.
Terrorism and Indo-British economic ties were the key subjects at the talks here between Modi and May, who arrived Sunday night on a three-day visit to India, on her first bilateral trip outside Europe after becoming Prime Minister in July after the Brexit vote.
The joint statement issued after the talks said they strongly affirmed that terrorism is a serious threat to humanity and reiterated their strong commitment to combating terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. They stressed that there can be no justification for acts of terror on any grounds whatsoever while agreeing there should be zero-tolerance to terrorism.
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In an obvious reference to Pakistan hailing Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani as “martyr”, the joint statement said, “There should be no glorification of terrorists or efforts to make a distinction between good and bad terrorists. They agreed that South Asia should be stable, prosperous and free from terror and called on all countries to work towards that goal.”
Modi and May also called for concerted global action against them “without selectivity”. They pitched for urgent measures to counter and prevent the spread of terrorism, violent extremism and radicalisation.
The two Prime Ministers affirmed that the fight against terrorism should not only seek to disrupt and bring to justice terrorists, terror organisations, and networks, but also identify, hold accountable and take strong measures against all those who encourage, support and finance terrorism, provide sanctuary to terrorists and terror groups, and falsely extol their virtues.
Addressing a joint press event with May, Modi said they discussed ways to purposefully work together to combat the growing forces of radicalisation and terrorism. “We agreed that it is not a limited security challenge. Its arc of threat spreads across nations and regions. Terrorists move across borders with ease and endanger the entire humanity.
“I conveyed our deep concerns to Prime Minister May regarding cross-border terrorism and the need for the international community to take strong action against States that support and sponsor terrorism,” he said.
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On her part, May said the two countries face the shared threat of terrorism as individual countries, as partners, and as global powers and have agreed to strengthen cooperation in particular by sharing best practice to tackle the use of the internet by violent extremists.