India, Singapore condemn terrorism, emphasize need for international cooperation

During the 4th meeting of the India-Singapore Joint Working Group (JWG) on Combating Terrorism and Transnational Crime which was held in Singapore from May 18 to May 19, both nations strongly condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.

"As strategic partners, India and Singapore strongly condemned terrorism in all its forms including cross border terrorism and stressed the need to enhance international cooperation to combat terrorism in a comprehensive manner," read a statement from India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

Mahaveer Singhvi, joint secretary for counter-terrorism at the Ministry of External Affairs of India and Puah Kok Keong, the Deputy Secretary at the Ministry of Home Affairs of Singapore co-chaired the meeting.

The JWG also emphasised that all countries must take immediate and sustained action to ensure that no territory under their control is used for terrorist attacks on others and agreed on the need to expeditiously bring perpetrators of such terror attacks to justice.

Both sides discussed issues pertaining to challenges faced by counter-terrorism, including cross border movement of terrorists, fighting against the financing of terrorism, countering radicalisation, and preventing the exploitation of the internet for terrorism.

Discussions were also held regarding terrorism threats in national, regional, and global spheres, cybercrime, drug trafficking, and the nexus between terrorism and transnational organised crime.

Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to work closely together to respond to these challenges and discussed ways to deepen engagement between their respective agencies, especially in the field of sharing of information and best practices, law enforcement and capacity building to counter-terrorism and transnational crimes.

The JWG also exchanged views on deepening cooperation in multilateral fora such as the UN, ASEAN and FATF. (ANI)