Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz briefs PM Narendra Modi on 34-nation Islamic military coalition

RIYADH: Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz today briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his initiative in bringing together 34 countries to form a powerful Islamic military coalition to combat terrorism, as the two leaders agreed to strengthen cooperation in fighting the menace.

Modi, who is here on a two-day official visit to the Kingdom, and Salman held wide-ranging talks and agreed to strengthen cooperation in combating terrorism, both at the bilateral level and within the multilateral system of the UN.

King Salman briefed Modi on the Kingdom's "initiative in bringing together Islamic Alliance against terrorism," said a joint statement issued after their talks.

"The Prime Minister lauded Kingdom's efforts at fighting terrorism in all its aspects and its active participation in international efforts towards this end," the statement said.

It said the two leaders called upon the international community to strengthen multilateral regimes to effectively address the challenges posed by terrorism.

The two sides also agreed to work together towards the adoption of India's proposed Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism in the United Nations, it added.

In December, Saudi had announced the formation of the 34-state Islamic military coalition to combat terrorism.

The coalition includes nations with large and established armies such as Pakistan, Turkey and Egypt as well as war-torn countries with embattled militaries such as Libya and Yemen.

Other members are Saudi Arabia's five partners in the Gulf Cooperation Council, as well as Jordan, Nigeria, Egypt, Chad, Mali, Malaysia, Morocco, Senegal, Somalia and Tunisia.

Saudi Arabia's regional rival, Iran, is not part of the coalition. Iraq and Syria whose forces are battling the Islamic State terror group are also not in the coalition.

According to Saudi officials, the members of the new "anti-terrorism" coalition would share intelligence, combat violent ideology and deploy troops if necessary.