India, US should jointly counter terror threat

NEW DELHI: Vice President Hamid Ansari today said India and the US should "jointly" counter the threats of terrorism and extremism with a realistic perspective of the dangers, many in India's immediate region, they pose to global peace.

"Threats to peace, many in India's immediate region, are the greatest impediments to progress. They emanate from terrorism, extremism, intolerance, injustice and misuse of the benefits of science and technology.

"It is incumbent on our two nations to counter these threats, jointly and individually, with a realistic perspective of the dangers they pose," he said at the banquet hosted in honour US Vice President Joseph Biden.

The Indian Vice President said countering threats to peace is one aspect of cooperation between the two countries and an equally important aspect is the "promotion of stability and widening the global arc of prosperity".

"Both necessitate a deeper understanding of each other's essential interests and legitimate aspirations. Both make incumbent an on-going, no-holds barred dialogue," he said.

Ansari said "as vibrant democracies we cherish, as you do, the right to disagree without losing sight of our endeavour for the common good."

He said "remarkable progress" has been registered in bilateral cooperation between India and the US and "we now have a tradition of political engagement at the highest level".

"From an Indian perspective, we have with the US more defence cooperation, more strategic dialogues, more economic exchanges and more science and technology partnerships than with any other country," he said.