India, Israel to enhance cooperation on counter-terrorism

New Delhi: India and Israel on Wednesday agreed to enhance dialogue and cooperation in the area of counter- terrorism and discussed terror threats in regional and global arenas.

The discussions were part of the 8th meeting of India- Israel Joint Working Group (JWG) on Counter Terrorism held here. The Indian delegation was headed by Asoke Kumar Mukerji, Special Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs. The Israeli delegation was co-led by Ambassador Jeremy Issascharof, Deputy Director General, Head of Strategic Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Eitan Ben David, Head of Counter Terrorism Bureau at the Prime Minister`s Office. The delegations comprised representatives from relevant ministries and agencies of the two countries. Both sides exchanged perceptions of threats emanating from terrorism and emphasised their determination to fight the menace, a MEA statement said. They discussed terrorist threats in regional and global arenas as well as national counter-terrorism measures, state sponsored terrorism, prevention of transfer of weapons to terrorists, cooperation in multilateral fora and lessons from 26/11 and 13/2 (the day when an Israeli embassy car was attacked last year). The two sides agreed to enhance dialogue and cooperation in the area of counter-terrorism, the statement said. The 9th meeting of the JWG will be held in Israel in 2014. PTI