British PM Theresa May joins Narendra Modi in seeking action against those backing terror

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday called for combating terrorism in all its forms as British PM Theresa May joined her Indian counterpart in demanding strong action against those who provide sanctuary to perpetrators of terror. 

The leaders called upon Pakistan to bring to justice the perpetrators of the November 2008 and 2016 terrorist attacks in Mumbai and Pathankot as May condemned the terror strike on the Indian Army brigade headquarters in Uri in September.

As many as 19 soldiers were killed in the attack.

Terrorism and Indo-British economic ties were the key subjects at the talks here between PM Modi and May, who arrived last night on three-day visit to India, her first bilateral trip outside Europe since becoming Prime Minister in July after the Brexit vote.

The joint statement issued after the talks said they strongly affirmed that terrorism is a serious threat to humanity and reiterated their strong commitment to combating terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. 

In an obvious reference to Pakistan hailing Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani as "martyr", the joint statement said, "There should be no glorification of terrorists or efforts to make a distinction between good and bad terrorists. They agreed that South Asia should be stable, prosperous and free from terror and called on all countries to work towards that goal."

In a joint address to the media following delegation-level talks with May, PM Modi said he and May discussed "ways to purposefully work together to combat the growing forces of radicalisation and terrorism". 

"We agreed that it is not a limited security challenge. Its arc of threat spreads across nations and regions. Terrorists move across borders with ease, and endanger the entire humanity," he said. 

"I conveyed our deep concerns to Prime Minister May regarding cross-border terrorism and the need for the international community to take strong action against states that support and sponsor terrorism," he added, as per IANS.

On her part, May strongly condemned the September 18 terror attack on the Indian Army camp in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir, according to the statement.

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She said the two countries face the shared threat of terrorism as individual countries, as partners, and as global powers and have agreed to strengthen cooperation in particular by sharing best practice to tackle use of internet by violent extremists.

Noting both the UK and India face an increasing threat of attacks from other states, terrorists and criminals operating in cyberspace, May said the two countries were already working together to tackle it.

"Prime Minister Modi and I have agreed to step up our cooperation, by negotiating a cyber framework between our countries which would improve our mutual cyber security, promote a free, open and secure cyberspace, and unlock commercial opportunities for UK industry," she said, as per PTI.

The two PMs underlined the priority they attach to international peace keeping, where India is the second largest troop contributor and the UK is the 6th largest budget contributor in the world. 

Further, May called for breaking down barriers in trade and investment while voicing support for free trade between India and Britain.

In this connection, she said that India has been made the first visa-holding country to avail of Britain's Registered Traveller Scheme.

The Registered Traveller Scheme is currently available for nationals from Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and the US.

As for student visas, she said that Britain would continue to welcome the "best and brightest" of Indian students.

Participated in India-UK Tech Summit with PM @theresa_may. Scope of India-UK cooperation in technology, R&D, innovation is immense. pic.twitter.com/mWTkwfFnbX — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 7, 2016

Talks with PM @theresa_may focussed on multiple aspects of India-UK relations & how to add more strength to this partnership. @Number10gov pic.twitter.com/uCN7R77nQG — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 7, 2016

India-UK ties are geared to meeting the 21st century challenges & contributing to global good. https://t.co/p7bcAUFd8T — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 7, 2016

(With Agency inputs)