India, France agree to step up counter-terror cooperation at Paris meet

India and France on Thursday agreed to deepen cooperation on counter-terrorism, with a focus on tackling radicalisation, combating online propaganda and addressing the misuse of emerging technologies by terror groups.

The understanding was reached at the 17th meeting of the India-France Joint Working Group on Counter Terrorism (JWG-CT) held in Paris. The Indian delegation was led by K D Dewal, Joint Secretary (Counter Terrorism) in the Ministry of External Affairs, while the French side was headed by Counter-Terrorism Ambassador Olivier Caron.

Both sides strongly condemned the April 22 terrorist attack on civilians in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir. They exchanged assessments on the threat landscape, including state-sponsored cross-border terrorism, the activities of terror groups in their respective regions and the situation in the Middle East, the MEA said in a statement.

The discussions also covered counter-terrorism challenges such as extremism, radicalisation, and the use of new technologies by terrorist organisations. The two sides reviewed cooperation in multilateral forums, including the UN, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the No Money For Terror (NMFT) initiative.

They agreed to enhance capacity-building through training and exercises, broaden dialogue to cover organised crime, and share information and best practices on cyber-related threats.

The next meeting of the Joint Working Group will be hosted by India on a mutually convenient date, officials said.