The 14th meeting of the India-Australia Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism took place in New Delhi, with senior officials from both nations coming together to discuss global counter-terrorism challenges and enhance bilateral cooperation.
K.D. Dewal, Joint Secretary for Counter-Terrorism at India’s Ministry of External Affairs, and Richard Feakes, Ambassador for Counter-Terrorism at Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, led their respective delegations.
Reflecting on the meeting, the Australian High Commissioner to India posted on X (formerly Twitter), stating: “Counter-Terrorism cooperation is an important part of the 🇦🇺🇮🇳 Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Productive discussions this week between 🇦🇺’s Amb for Counter-Terrorism @AusAmbCT and 🇮🇳’s Joint Secretary for Counter-Terrorism @MEAIndia on current global challenges @dfat.”
During the meeting, both India and Australia strongly condemned terrorism in all its forms and stressed the importance of strengthening international cooperation to combat the menace in a comprehensive and sustained manner.
The two sides also jointly denounced the use of terrorist proxies for cross-border terrorism, highlighting the need for a united global front against such practices.
The discussions extended to a wide range of issues, including domestic, regional, and global terrorism threat assessments.
Key topics included countering the use of new and emerging technologies by terrorists, preventing the misuse of the internet for terrorist purposes, combating radicalisation and terror financing, and addressing the nexus between organised crime and terrorism.
The two sides also explored avenues for enhanced collaboration within regional, global, and multilateral fora such as the United Nations, Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF), Financial Action Task Force (FATF), ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), and with QUAD partners.
Counter-terrorism cooperation remains a crucial pillar of the India-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, and this meeting further underscored the shared commitment of both nations to tackle the evolving challenges of global terrorism.
In a positive conclusion to the discussions, both sides agreed to convene the 15th meeting of the Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism in Canberra at a mutually convenient date.
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