India, US to focus on counter-terror measures

India and the United States Tuesday signed six memoranda of understanding, including one on advancing global security and US-India Counterterrorism Cooperation Initiative.

The two leaders committed to redouble their efforts to deal effectively with terrorism, while protecting their countries' common ideals and shared values, and committed themselves to strengthening global consensus and legal regimes against terrorism.
They acknowledged the common threat that international terrorism poses to their homelands and to regional and global security.

The numerous bilateral dialogues conducted over the last several months, the two leaders' discussions today, and the continuing actions that both countries will be taking as a result of these comprehensive meetings reflected the extensive and growing strategic partnership between the United States and India.

In their meeting, Singh and Obama noted that the US-India counter-terrorism relationship has advanced in a short time to unprecedented levels of cooperation.

As part of the Counterterrorism Cooperation Initiative, they committed to redouble their collective efforts to deal effectively with terrorism, while protecting their countries' common ideals and shared values, and committed themselves to strengthening global consensus and legal regimes against terrorism.

The two leaders also discussed shared interests in enhanced regional security and stability, particularly in the context of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Noting that global security encompasses a wide range of common interests, the two leaders also affirmed their nations' commitment to work together on global challenges, as illustrated in the Global Issues Forum, held in New Delhi on November 5.

The Global Issues Forum focused on how the world's two largest democracies can form a truly global partnership by working together to meet transnational challenges through regional, international and multilateral cooperation.

In the forum, the two governments addressed concrete ways to strengthen Indian and US cooperation in improving global health, food security, access to shelter and education, water management, support for the rule of law and human rights, environmental conservation and disaster management.

The six MoUs besides two memoranda of-interest as well as several other initiatives and agreements, were signed during Singh's one-on-one meeting with Obama at the Oval Office Tuesday during the former's first state visit to Washington under the Obama administration.

These included enhancing US-India Cooperation on Education and Development, on support for an early start of negotiations on a multilateral, non-discriminatory and internationally verifiable Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty, on launching of a 'Green Partnership' to strengthen US-India cooperation on clean energy, climate change, and food security, on launching of an Indo-U.S. Clean Energy Research and Deployment Initiative, supported by US and Indian government funding and private sector contributions and launching of a new Agriculture Dialogue and agreed on a MoU on Agricultural Cooperation and Food Security.