India, China hold first high-level dialogue to combat terror

India and China on Tuesday held their first anti-terrorism dialogue amid growing Indo-Pak tensions, following the Uri terror attack and reached “important consensus” on strengthening cooperation in combating the menace and on measures to jointly deal with security threats.

Seen as a significant step forward in anti-terror cooperation, following differences over India’s bid to get Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar designated as a terrorist by the UN, top intelligence officials from both the countries held candid discussions about stepping up cooperation in counter-terrorism.

“The two sides exchanged views on the international and regional security situation,” an Indian Embassy statement said.

“They exchanged information on respective policies, systems and legislation to deal with terrorism and further enhance their understanding on issues of major concerns to both sides,” the Embassy statement said.

“The two sides had in-depth discussions on enhancing cooperation in counter-terrorism and security and on measures to jointly deal with security threats and reached important consensus in this regard,” it said.

Later, a report by the state-run Xinhua news agency on the talks said, “the two sides exchanged opinions on the international and regional security situation and their respective anti-terrorism systems, mechanisms and legislation”.

The meeting was co-chaired by RN Ravi, chairman of Joint Intelligence Committee from India, and Wang Yongqing, Secretary General of Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission of China.