India, Indonesia step up anti-terror cooperation

New Delhi: India and Indonesia, Southeast Asia's largest country, are stepping up cooperation to combat terrorism, including countering radicalisation and violent extremism conducive to terrorism, combating terror financing, preventing the misuse of the internet and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes and addressing the nexus between organised crime and terrorism.

The decision was taken at the seventh meeting of the India-Indonesia Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism, held here on Thursday. The meeting was co-chaired by Suhel Ajaz Khan, additional secretary (counter-terrorism) in the ministry of external affairs, and Dionnisius Elvan Swasono, deputy for international cooperation at Indonesia's National Counter-Terrorism Agency.

As strategic partners, both sides underscored the importance of bilateral cooperation in preventing and countering terrorism, an official said. They unequivocally condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and reaffirmed their commitment to a policy of zero tolerance towards terrorism. The two sides also called for decisive and concerted international efforts to combat terrorism comprehensively and sustainably. They exchanged views on the domestic, regional and global terrorism landscape, as well as threat assessments, including those relating to cross-border terrorism, the official said.

Both sides emphasised the need to strengthen international cooperation and reaffirmed their commitment to working together in multilateral forums, including the United Nations, Asean, Brics and the FATF, to combat global terrorism effectively. Deradicalisation was also identified as an important element of India-Indonesia cooperation on counter-terrorism, the official said.

The Indonesian delegation visited the headquarters of the National Security Guard on Friday to discuss avenues for bilateral capacity-building measures.