13th India-France Joint meet on Counter-Terrorism
On 15th February 2019, delegations from India & France met for 13th Joint Working Group on Counter Terrorism in Paris. The Indian delegation was led by MEA Joint Secretary (Counter-terrorism) Mahaveer Singhvi, while the French delegation was led by Nicolas Roche, Assistant Secretary of State for Strategic, Security and Disarmament Affairs of the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs.
France strongly condemns the terrorist act in Pulwama and expressed solidarity with the families of the victims. It also called upon countries to efficiently combat terrorist networks and their financing channels. French delegation also stressed to prevent cross-border movement of terrorist groups like JeM (Jaish-e-Mohammed) who’s responsible for Phulwama terrorist attack.
Both sides also reviewed the threats posed by terrorist organisations around the world in their respective regions, including cross border terrorism in the South Asian region. They discussed current counter-terrorism challenges including countering radicalization, combating the financing of terrorism and preventing the use of cyberspace for the terrorism.
The two sides also exchanged measures to deepen counter-terrorism cooperation through regular exchange of mutual capacity building efforts, vitals information and sharing the best practices and mutual legal assistance. Cooperation in global forums such as the United Nations and FATF (Financial Action Task Force) was also discussed. The 14th joint working group meet will be held in India on mutually convenient dates.
