India-US Join Hands to Fight Terrorism

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has proved it again that under his leadership India is emerging as a major power to defeat the fissiparous tendencies working to destabilise India. His focussed policy to galvanise the global opinion for the peaceful world order is vivid and clear. During his visit to the United States of America within a few weeks President Donald Trump’s inauguration has proved fruitful in terms of taking the bilateral relations between the two democracies to the new level. This can be gauged from the joint press conference of the two leaders in Washington DC. While addressing the media. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that both India and USA have firmly stood against the scourge of terrorism and the two nations agreed that there is a need to tackle the cross-border terrorism with concerted action. During this joint press conference,Prime Minister Modi lauded the US decision to hand over 2008 terror attack accused Tahawwur Rana and underlined that the Indian courts will now take appropriate action. The action against cross-border terrorism is clear reference to the acts of terrorism patronised by Pakistan against India, especially in Jammu and Kashmir to destabilise the society through radicalised religious groups. Underlining the need for India-US co-operation to fight terrorism jointly, the Prime Minister has said, “ India and Us have stood firmly together in the fight against terrorism. We agree that concerted action is necessary to eradicate cross-border terrorism. This joint statement that has been issued after the bilateral talks between the two leaders has asked Pakistan to expeditiously bring the perpetrators of 26/11 Mumbai and Pathankot attacks to justice. It has further asked Pakistan to stop using its territory for the acts of cross-border terrorism. The statement has also underlined the co-operations between India and US against the Pakistan based terrorist groups-Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Tayyiba. The two leaders have reaffirmed to fight the global scourge of terrorism with the focus on the elimination of the safe havens of the terrorist from every corner of the world. The statement makes it clear that the two nations are committed to strengthen cooperation against the terrorist threats from the Al-Qaida, ISIS, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Tayyiba to prevent the replication of the heinous acts of terror against the humanity like those in Mumbai on 26/11 and the Abbey Gate bombing in Afghanistan on 26th August in 2021.It is clear from the India-US posturing after the meeting of Prime Minister Modi and President Trump that the war on terror is entering a new phase. India being the frontline victim of Pakistan orchestrated terrorism has been witnessing the asymmetrical war that has caused immense turbulence in Jammu and Kashmir. Violence and the religious cleansing of the minorities in the last thirty five years has devastated the socio-economic indicators. But after tightening the grip on the matters related to the national security and neutralisation of Article 370 and 35 A there has been a tremendous shift in dealing with the support structures of the religious radicalism and the competitive separatism injected in Jammu and Kashmir to restore normalcy and peace. This can be witnessed with the successful Lok Sabha and Assembly Elections that restored democracy with the enthusiastic participation of the people. It is clear that the Modi government is committed to work at two fronts to make peace sustainable in Jammu and Kashmir by choking the resources of the terrorist organisations from across the border with appropriate response at the diplomatic level and at the level defence strategy on ground. With this comprehensive approach there is a hope that peace and stability will prevail and people will be able to live normal and prosperous lives as the proud citizens of the nation ,free from the external threats meant to balkanise the nation.