India, US talk tough on terror from Pakistan

NEW DELHI: India and the US have decided to expand their partnership to combat Pak-sponsored cross-border terror, including early operationalisation of agreement on exchange of information on known or suspected terrorists.

Both sides have also refused to distinguish between good and bad terrorists. Armed with a cyber-relationship pact, signed on Tuesday at the second round of Strategic and Commercial Dialogue here, foreign minister Sushma Swaraj asserted there was "meeting of minds" between India and the US on Pakistanbased terror.

At a joint press meet, Swaraj and US secretary of state John Kerry said Islamabad should punish 26/11 and Pathankot perpetrators at the earliest. They agreed to effectively implement UN 1267 sanctions committee against Pak-based terrorists like JeM chief Maulana Masood Azhar. Kerry said: "US stands shoulder to shoulder with India. Terror is terror and we will not distinguish between one form of terror or the other." On dialogue with Pakistan, Swaraj said talks and terror cannot go hand in hand.