India, U.S. to Expand Counter-Terrorism Cooperation

(Joint working group reviews terrorism situation, preparedness) (1000)

The India-U.S. Joint Working Group on Counter-terrorism expressed
satisfaction with the progress of the global war against terrorism and
reaffirmed the two nations' commitment to cooperating against
terrorism, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said in a
statement released January 24.

"The two delegations recalled that India and the United States have
been victims of terrible acts of terrorism since their last meeting in
June 2001. They welcomed the new international resolve, commitment,
and partnership in combating the menace of terrorism," Boucher said.

Boucher said that the two delegations, which met January 21-22,
discussed the progress of several joint counter-terrorism initiatives
and projects, as well as ways to strengthen intelligence and
investigative cooperation.

The delegations also reaffirmed their commitment to expanding
counter-terrorism cooperation between India and the U.S., Boucher
said.

Following is the text of Boucher's January 24 statement:

(begin text)

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman

January 24, 2002

Statement by Richard Boucher, Spokesman

India-U.S. "Joint Working Group on Counter-terrorism"

Following is the text of a joint statement released January 22 by the
United States and India.

"The fourth meeting of the India-U.S. Joint Working Group on
Counterterrorism was held on 21-22, January 2002. The Indian
delegation was led by Mr. Jayant Prasad, Joint Secretary in the
Ministry of External Affairs, and the U.S. delegation was headed by
Ambassador Francis X. Taylor, U.S. State Department Coordinator for
Counterterrorism. Both delegations included an interagency group of
counterterrorism, law enforcement, defense, and finance officials.

The two delegations recalled that India and the United States have
been victims of terrible acts of terrorism since their last meeting in
June 2001. They welcomed the new international resolve, commitment,
and partnership in combating the menace of terrorism. They expressed
satisfaction with the progress in the global war against terrorism,
but recognized that the campaign will be long drawn and multi-faceted,
involving political, diplomatic, military, intelligence, and financial
measures. The two sides emphasized that success in the war against
terrorism depended heavily on international cooperation as well as
national commitment to renounce use of or support to terrorism. They
unequivocally condemned all acts of terrorism, whatever the
considerations that may be invoked to justify them, and reaffirmed
their nations' commitment to cooperate to prevent acts of terrorism
and to eradicate terrorist organizations, which are a threat to
international peace and security.

The delegations expressed satisfaction with their cooperation in
response to the terrorist attacks in the United States on 11 September
and on the Indian Parliament on 13 December last year. They reaffirmed
their commitment to strengthen this cooperation and also noted that
all countries have the obligation to cooperate in bringing terrorists
to justice. They condemned this morning's attack at the U.S. Consulate
in Calcutta and conveyed their condolence to the families of the
victims.

The two delegations expressed their strong support for the full
implementation of UNSC Resolution 1373 of September 2001, which
provides a comprehensive approach for sustained global and regional
cooperation, national responsibility and building domestic
capabilities in combating terrorism. In addition, the two sides
continued consultations on the India-proposed Comprehensive Convention
against International Terrorism being discussed in the Sixth Committee
of the UNGA, and reiterated support for its finalization and adoption.

The delegations reviewed the international terrorism situation,
including in South Asia, Central Asia, and Southeast Asia. They shared
their assessment of the impact of the military, financial, and other
measures taken against terrorist groups and networks after September
11 and December 13. They also exchanged information on legislative,
institutional and law enforcement steps that the two governments are
taking to strengthen homeland/internal security and agreed to further
share experience in this regard at the next meeting of the Joint
Working Group. Experts on the two sides had detailed discussions on
financing of terrorist activities and agreed that the widespread use
of informal channels for financial flows presents a special challenge
to governments. They agreed that closer cooperation and strengthening
mutual capabilities in cutting off financial flows to terrorist
organizations will constitute an important component of their
counterterrorism cooperation.

Counter-terrorism officials on the two sides reviewed the
anti-terrorism training and capacity building programs conducted by
the United States. The Indian side welcomed the U.S. offer to further
expand the program, covering preventive, protective, and consequence
management capabilities in both conventional and WMD terrorism. The
Indian delegation also welcomed the U .S. pilot project involving
equipment and technology to strengthen border management and
surveillance. The delegations also discussed forensic cooperation. In
addition, the two sides added aviation security to their expanding
counterterrorism agenda. Indian and U.S. officials discussed ways to
further strengthen their intelligence and investigative cooperation,
including the possibility of access to each other's databases on
terrorists.

The delegations welcomed the launch of the Joint Initiative on
Cyberterrorism, agreed on by Prime Minister Vajpayee and President
Bush during their meeting in November 2001 in Washington D.C. The U.S.
side informed that the Coordinator for Cyber-terrorism in the U.S.
National Security Council will visit in the next few weeks for the
first round of discussions with his counterpart in the National
Security Council Secretariat.

The delegations also welcomed the decision of the India-U.S. Defense
Policy Group in December 2001 to add a new emphasis in their defense
cooperation on counterterrorism initiatives, including expanding
mutual support in this area. The two sides were briefed by defense
officials on the two sides on cooperative programs, which will be
executed by Subject Matter Expert Exchanges and Joint Combined
Exchange Training in the coming months, and other events that will be
finalized at the forthcoming meetings of the Executive Steering Groups
of the two militaries.

The delegations reaffirmed their commitment to further deepen and
expand counterterrorism cooperation between India and the United
States. Ambassador Taylor invited the Indian delegation to Washington,
D.C. in summer of 2002 for the fifth meeting of the Joint Working
Group."

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Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)