U.S.-India working group holds meeting to coordinate counterterrorism efforts

WASHINGTON, March 27 (Xinhua) -- The meeting of a U.S.-India working group was held in New Delhi, India on Tuesday to coordinate bilateral efforts to counter terrorism, according to a statement released by the two governments.

The announcement, offered by the U.S. State Department, read that during the 15th meeting of the India-U.S. Counterterrorism Joint Working Group, delegations of the two nations "achieved important progress on counterterrorism cooperation."

The working group reviewed threats posed by terrorist groups worldwide and in their respective regions, including cross-border terrorism in the South Asia region.

Both sides committed to strengthening information sharing on some of the world's most dangerous terrorist groups and individuals and exchanged views on efforts to counter the financing and operations of regional and global terrorist organizations.

The two sides discussed international efforts to counter threats posed by foreign terrorist fighters.

The working group also discussed international and bilateral cooperation on justice, law enforcement, UN Security Council Resolution 2396 and capacity building efforts to counter terrorism.

Delegations of the two nations were led by Indian Ministry of External Affairs Joint Secretary Shri Mahaveer Singhvi and U.S. State Department's Principal Deputy Coordinator for Counterterrorism Alina L. Romanowski.

Following up on the inaugural U.S.-India Counterterrorism Designations Dialogue in December, the delegations discussed ongoing efforts to ensure the effective implementation of domestic and international terrorist designations.

The United States will host the next meeting of the Joint Working Group in 2019. Enditem