New Delhi: Unequivocally condemning terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including cross-border terrorism, Quad partners – including, India, Japan, Australia, and the United States – have jointly called for the perpetrators, organisers, and financiers of the last month’s terror incident near Delhi’s Red Fort to be brought to justice and also urged all UN Member States to cooperate in doing so.
Expressing their condolences for the heinous terror incident on November 10, the Quad member countries also exchanged assessments on the terrorism threat landscape – including developments in the Indo-Pacific region – during the two-day 3rd Quad Counter Terrorism Working Group (CTWG) meeting which concluded in New Delhi on Friday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated on Saturday.
The Quad CTWG was established during the Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting held in New Delhi in March 2023 and the latest meeting was held as part of India’s rotation hosting the next Quad Summit.
The meeting was led by senior officials in charge of counterterrorism. Dr. Vinod Bahade, Joint Secretary for Counter Terrorism, Ministry of External Affairs of India; Gemma Huggins, Ambassador for Counter Terrorism, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Australia; Minami Hiroyuki, Ambassador in-charge of International Cooperation for Countering Terrorism and International Organized Crime, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan; and Monica Ager Jacobsen, Senior Bureau Official for the United States Department of State Counterterrorism Bureau, led their respective delegations.
MEA’s Secretary West, Ambassador Sibi George delivered the keynote address, underscoring the need for forging a common resolve within the Quad to combat the scourge of terrorism, and urged all Quad members to take necessary steps to make the Quad CTWG a more resilient, robust, and action-oriented Working Group. He thanked Quad member countries for showing solidarity and extending support to India following the heinous April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.
According to the Joint Statement released after the meeting, the members discussed the full spectrum of counterterrorism cooperation and measures that could be used to address existing and emerging challenges. They also underscored the importance of ensuring that the Indo-Pacific remains open and free from the threats of terrorism.
“During the meeting, a Tabletop Exercise (TTx) on ‘Counter Terrorism Operations in the Urban Environment’ was conducted. The TTx provided an opportunity for CT experts to share their best practices and identify potential opportunities for joint operational preparedness to respond to complex terrorist scenarios. Quad partners reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening cooperation in multilateral fora. They also emphasised the value of continued information sharing on terrorists, terrorist organisations, and their proxies,” read the Joint Statement.
In September, India hosted two Quad CTWG workshops on countering the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for terrorist purposes and on preventing terrorist exploitation of new and emerging technologies for terror financing. These workshops were organised by the National Security Guard and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) respectively in coordination with the Ministry of External Affairs of India.
Quad partners also committed to further deepen counterterrorism cooperation within the Quad framework and to convene the next meeting of Quad Counter Terrorism Working Group in 2026.
(IANS)
