India-Singapore hold JWG meeting; vow to enhance cooperation to combat terrorism

The fourth meeting of the Joint Working Group (JWG) on Combating Terrorism and Transnational Crime between India and Singapore was held in Singapore from May 18 to 19 where both countries stressed the need to enhance international cooperation to combat terrorism comprehensively. Condemning the terrorism in all its forms including cross border terrorism, Mahaveer Singhvi, Joint Secretary for Counter-Terrorism at the Ministry of External Affairs of India and Mr Puah Kok Keong, Deputy Secretary (Policy) at the Ministry of Home Affairs of Singapore, emphasised that all countries must take immediate and sustained action to ensure that no territory under their control is used for terrorist attacks on others. Both diplomats also agreed on the need to bring perpetrators of such terror attacks to justice expeditiously.

The JWG discussed contemporary counter-terrorism challenges, including cross border movement of terrorists, countering radicalisation, combating the financing of terrorism and tackling terrorist use of the internet. The JWG also exchanged views on national, regional and global terrorism threat assessments, cybercrimes, drug trafficking and the nexus between transnational organised crime and terrorism. It agreed to strengthen cooperation between Singapore and India in dealing with these challenges.

India and Singapore vow to share information to counter-terrorism

The JWG also exchanged views on deepening cooperation in multilateral fora such as the UN, ASEAN and FATF.
During the meeting, both countries also stressed their commitment to sharing crucial information in order to curb terrorism and transnational crimes. "India and Singapore are committed to further cooperation and collaboration between their respective agencies, particularly in sharing information and best practices, law enforcement and capacity building to counter-terrorism and transnational crimes," according to the joint statement released on Saturday, May 21. 

Image: PTI