India is founding member of Global Counterterrorism Forum

WASHINGTON: India and Pakistan are among 30 founding members of the Global Counterterrorism Forum, a signature initiative of the Obama administration to create a collective international effort to fight the war against terrorism.

It will be launched officially in New York at the level of foreign ministers on the margins of the General Assembly meetings of United Nations later this month, the State Department announced yesterday.

"The GCTF will be a new, informal, multilateral CT (counter-terrorism) body that will focus on identifying critical civilian CT needs, mobilising the necessary expertise and resources to address these issues and build global political will," US State Department said in a fact sheet.

"It will provide a needed venue for national CT officials and practitioners to meet with their counterparts from key countries in different regions to share CT experiences, expertise, strategies, capacity needs, and capacity-building programmes.

"The GCTF will prioritise civilian capacity building in areas such as rule of law, border management, and countering violent extremism," it said.

The GCTF will consist of a strategic-level coordinating committee, co-chaired initially by the United States and Turkey; five thematic and regional expert-driven working groups; and a small administrative unit that the US will host for the first few years.