External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday said that India and the United States agreed that Pakistan needed to fast-track action on finding the perpetrators behind the Pathankot attacks. Swaraj was addressing a joint press conference with US Secretary of State John Kerry, who said "terror is terror no matter where it comes from", according to ANI. He added that the US supported efforts to bring those involved in the Mumbai 2008 and Pathankot attacks to justice and that it stood with India on all matters of terrorism.
Swaraj said they had agreed on the need for Pakistan to "dismantle safe havens" for terror groups and criminal networks, and that she had briefed Kerry on the continuing problem of cross-border terrorism in India. She also thanked him for the US' constant support on India's membership to the Nuclear Supplier's Group.
Earlier in the day, during the second India-US Strategic and Commercial Dialogue under way in the nation’s capital on Tuesday, India had said there was scope for both countries to do a lot more in the area of counter-terrorism, The Hindu reported. The meeting was co-chaired by Sushma Swaraj and Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman along with John Kerry, and Secretary of Commerce, Penny Pritzker. Pritzker lauded India on its recent economic reforms, including the Goods and Services Tax and new foreign direct investment rules.
The representatives, supported by high-level inter-agency delegations, also discussed measures to enhance cooperation in areas of energy, trade and business. Swaraj highlighted the need to address interests of various companies in the process of developing commercial bilateral relations. Bilateral trade between US and India hovered around the $109 billion mark last year.
Kerry said the US also sought to ink a deal on cyber security and highlighted the US' interest in developing reactors for reliable power supply to Indian houses under the civil nuclear cooperation deal.
Swaraj reasserted that India was committed to the ratification of the Paris Climate Agreement and expressed hope that the next US administration would be as involved as the current government in supporting the pact. The external affairs minister stressed on the need to cooperate in the area of clean and renewable energy.
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