India, U.S. Seek Elimination of Terror Havens

Washington: India and the U.S. have called upon all nations - without naming any country - to take effective steps to work toward eliminating sanctuaries and infrastructure that supports terrorism and to increase efforts to counter violent extremism.

The call was made in a joint communiqué issued after the Second U.S.-India Homeland Security Dialogue co-chaired by Indian Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano.

The communiqué reaffirmed the two nations' own "commitment to, and importance of, bilateral homeland security cooperation on common challenges faced such as terrorism, and countering violent extremism."

India and the U.S. also agreed to enhance cooperation between their officials in appropriate multilateral fora in among other things "combating the flow of illicit finances and currency counterfeiting" and "in countering terrorism and promoting cybersecurity."

The two nations would enhance bilateral cooperation "to ensure mutual security and combat common threats, including through the collaboration of law enforcement agencies, improving bilateral cooperation including the development and application of innovative technology."

Expressing satisfaction with progress made, both leaders endorsed areas of further engagement in each of the six Homeland Security Dialogue Sub-Groups, the communiqué said.

These are (a) Megacities Policing; (b) Combating Illicit Finance, Bulk Cash Smuggling, and Counterfeiting; (c) Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection; (d) Port, Border, Maritime, Transportation and Supply Chain Security; (e) Science and Technology Cooperation; and (f) Capacity Building.

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