India, Italy decide to expand counter-terror cooperation

India and Italy have vowed to enhance their cooperation in combating terrorism including by effectively countering the "misuse" of technology for terrorist activities. Extensive deliberations were held on ways to expand bilateral cooperation in dealing with terrorism at a meeting of the India-Italy Joint Working Group (JWG) on Counter-Terrorism and Organised Crime held in Rome on January 16 and 17, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a readout on Sunday.

The two sides discussed emerging domestic, regional and international terrorist threats and exchanged views on a wide range of areas of cooperation in counter-terrorism and transnational organised crime, it said.

Recognising the need for enhancing cooperation for effectively countering the misuse of technology for terrorist purposes, the two sides shared experiences in preventing and mitigating the menace, the readout said.


India and Italy also stressed the importance of an effective prosecution of those responsible for terrorist acts.

In the talks, the two strategic partners reaffirmed their commitment to strengthen cooperation in the multilateral fora, including in the UN, GCTF (Global Counterterrorism Forum) and FATF (Financial Action Task Force), the MEA said.

"The two sides also discussed ways and means to advance the ongoing negotiations on various bilateral agreements," it said.

The meeting was co-chaired by K D Dewal, Joint Secretary for Counter-Terrorism in the MEA, and Alessandro Azzoni, Senior Deputy Director for Political Affairs and Director for Security at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Indian delegation also met officials of Italy's Inter-Agency Law Enforcement Academy in Caserta and discussed strengthening of capacity building measures between the academy and its counterpart organisation in India.