India, Kazakhstan assess security challenges, exchange views on cross-border terrorism in South Asia

India and Kazakhstan, during a joint working group meeting, assessed counter-terrorism challenges, and also exchanged views on cross-border terrorism in South Asia, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a release.

During the meeting that took place in Astana, both sides exchanged views on the terrorist threats in their respective regions, including State-sponsored, cross-border terrorism in South Asia, besides terror activities in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region.

The Indian delegation was led by Joint Secretary (CT), Ministry of External Affairs, KD Dewal; while the Kazakh delegation was spearheaded by Talgat Kaliyev, Ambassador-at-Large, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The 5th meeting of the India-Kazakhstan Joint Working Group on Counter Terrorism was held on April 8, this year.

“The two sides assessed counter terrorism challenges, including the use of new and emerging technologies by terrorists, misuse of internet for terrorist purposes, radicalisation and terror financing,” the MEA release read.

Both sides emphasised the importance of strengthening counter-terrorism cooperation through exchange of information, capacity building, training programmes, and cooperation at the multilateral fora such as the UN, EAG and SCO.

The two sides agreed to hold the 6th meeting of JWG on CT in India on a mutually-convenient date.