China joins India, Russia in call against terror

Despite repeatedly shielding terrorists based in Pakistan from United Nations' sanctions, China on Monday joined India and Russia to call upon all nations to prevent terrorists from using their territories.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Chinese and Russian counterparts, Wang Yi and Sergei Labvrov, met in New Delhi for the 15th annual Russia-India-China (RIC) trilateral talks. They condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.

"We underline the primary and leading role and responsibility of states in preventing and countering terrorism and extremism and reiterate that all states should take adequate measures to prevent terrorist activities from their territory," Sushma, Lavrov and Wang said in a joint statement.

New Delhi has been upset over Beijing's repeated moves stalling attempts at the United Nations Security Council to bring Jaish-e-Mohammed leader Moulana Masood Azhar and other terrorists based in Pakistan.

Beijing has never publicly shared New Delhi's concerns over cross-border terrorism emanating from territories under control of Pakistan and targeting India and Afghanistan.

Wang, however, joined Sushma and Lavrov to reaffirm the determination of the three nations to prevent and counter terrorism.

External Affairs Minister and her Chinese and Russian counterparts stressed that those committing, organising, inciting or supporting terrorist acts must be held accountable and brought to justice in accordance with the obligations under international law, including the principle of "extradite or prosecute" as well as the applicable domestic laws.

"We call for swift and effective implementation of existing international commitments on countering terrorism, including the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, relevant UN Security Council resolutions and targeted sanctions relating to terrorism and the FATF (Financial Action Task Force) International Standards worldwide," they said in the joint statement.

The joint statement did not specifically refer to any other terrorist organisation, except the al-Qaeda and Islamic State in the context of Libya and Iraq.

Sushma, however, did refer to Lashkar-e-Toiba, an anti-India terror outfit based in Pakistan, while addressing mediapersons along with Wang and Lavrov after the meeting.

Talks with China

India and China also agreed to continue bilateral engagements to "expand mutual understanding".

"Foreign Minister Wang Yi and I agreed that we should further strengthen our mutual trust to develop a better understanding between the two parties," said Sushma who had a bilateral meeting with the Chinese foreign minister before hosting RIC talks.

This was the first meeting between Sushma and Wang after the 72-day long face-off between the Indian Army and People's Liberation Army of China ended on August 28.

The face-off further strained bilateral ties, which were already plagued by several irritants, including China's policy of shielding terrorists based in Pakistan from United Nations sanctions and blocking India's bid to enter the Nuclear Suppliers Group.