India-Australia to sign pact on terror cooperation

Team Udayavani, May 18, 2017, 9:39 AM IST

New Delhi: India and Australia will soon sign a pact on cooperation in combating international terrorism and transnational organised crime as the government gave its nod to it today.

A meeting of the Union cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, gave approval to the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between India and Australia on cooperation in combating international terrorism and transnational organised crime with retrospective effect.

The proposed MoU would strengthen the relationship between India and Australia for building peace and stability in the region through exchange of information, expertise, experience and capacity building, an official statement said.

The pact is an effective framework to deal with all issues requiring interaction and cooperation in the areas identified.

The mutual cooperation would facilitate the institutional interactions between the two countries.

The MoU, once in force, would help in curbing combating international terrorism and transnational organised crime, the statement said.

The cabinet has also given its approval to the faculty exchange agreement signed between the National Defence College, New Delhi and National Defence College, Dhaka, Bangladesh with retrospective effect.

The objective of the agreement is to institutionalise regular exchange programmes and establish sustainable mechanisms between the two national defence colleges with an aim to enhancing mutual cooperation in the field of national security, development and strategic studies, an official statement said.

Given the geographical and cultural closeness between the two countries, there are many common challenges like countering terrorism that needs joint action.

Hence, there is a need for better coordination and cooperation among the armed forces, it said.

The exchange of faculty members of the premier institutes will help to bring symmetry in the capacities of the armed forces and contribute to countering and managing common threats and challenges much better.