New Delhi
21 January 2008
Imparting a fresh momentum to their strategic partnership, India and
Britain on Sunday agreed to establish a new bilateral dialogue on terrorist financing. The
mechanism is expected to set in motion an exercise for India's full membership of the
Financial Action Task Force (FATF.)
The FATF is an inter-governmental body founded in 1989. It is mandated to develop
policies to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. It has 34 members
comprising 32 countries and two regional organisations (European Commission and the
Gulf Cooperation Council.) India is an observer with the FATF.
A joint statement signed towards the end British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's two-day
visit to India said that both countries will expand existing counter-terrorism cooperation
further in the fields of civil aviation security and crisis management. At a multilateral
level, Britain extended support to India's initiative for adoption of a Comprehensive
Convention on International Terrorism.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that India and Britain have agreed to take various
concrete measures to build upon the existing cooperation between the two countries in
the field of counter-terrorism. "Our two countries are both victims of terrorism. We both
reiterated our firm resolve to combat the forces of terrorism and extremism," he said in
his opening remarks at a joint news conference here with Mr Gordon Brown.
"There are several areas in which India and the UK can be equal partners in creating
global peace and stability," Mr Singh said, adding that he welcomed Britain's support to
India's quest for a permanent seat in the United Nations (UN) Security Council and her
efforts at becoming integrated in global nuclear commerce.
The joint statement said that Britain supports the India-United States civil nuclear
cooperation initiative with all its elements, including an appropriate India-specific
exemption to the guidelines of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG.)
"As two countries with advanced nuclear technology, India and the UK agree to promote
co-operation in civil nuclear energy and will work expeditiously towards a bilateral
agreement for this purpose, in line with their strong commitment to non-proliferation," it
read.
Regional issues like the developments in Pakistan and Iran came up for discussion in
the delegation-level talks. British Premier Gordon Brown said that both sides shared the
hope that Pakistan would see an early return to stability and prosperity.
"Free and fair parliamentary elections in Pakistan are important for the people of
Pakistan and the world," Mr Brown told a reporter at the conference who wanted to know
whether the Scotland Yard has made progress in the investigations into the
assassination of former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
(Earlier in the day, he told a gathering of industry leaders that a global network was
needed to counter the dangers posed by "failed states and failing states" that harbour
terrorism. In an oblique reference to Pakistan, he said, "Failed states can harbour
terrorism and be a source of disorder and then spread right across the international
community .... So it is time to set a new and ambitious agenda to prevent conflict and to
stabilise and reconstruct failing and failed states.")
The British prime minister added that India must find her rightful place in the UN Security
Council. He supported changes to the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and
the Group of Eight (G-8) that reflect the rise of India. "I'm not pessimistic," he said when
asked whether the reform of the UN can become a reality anytime soon.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in turn, said he did not underestimate the difficulties
that lay in the way of reform of the UN. Describing India's efforts as "an essay in
persuasion," he said that the UN cannot claim to be fully representative of the
contemporary realities if India is not made a permanent member.
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