No good or bad terrorists: Kerry-Swaraj statement

NEW DELHI: India and the US tried on Tuesday to put Pakistan in the dock for harbouring extremists and making a distinction between good and bad terrorists.

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Also, the two countries decided to set up a trilateral dialogue on Afghanistan — another irksome development for Pakistan — as they stepped up their counter-terrorism cooperation by expanding intelligence-sharing about known or suspected extremists and terrorist threats.

The decision was taken at the India-US annual strategic and commercial dialogue in Delhi.

“I am happy to note there was a meeting of minds on this issue (of terrorism),” foreign minister Sushma Swaraj said after meeting US secretary of state John Kerry.

“We agreed that nations must not maintain double standards, such as the categorisation of good and bad terrorists, nor act as sanctuaries and safe havens for terrorist organisations,” she said.

Kerry echoed Swaraj’s views, saying the US “stands with India against all terrorism, no matter where it comes from”. He said he had spoken to the Pakistan leadership about the need for Islamabad to “deprive any (terrorist) group of sanctuary”.

His remarks came at a time when Pakistan and India are locked in hostile rhetoric over public protests in Kashmir over the killing of a militant leader on July 8. The unrest has claimed 70 lives. Pakistan has called the militant a martyr to ratchet up anti-India sentiments.

Kerry named the Haqqani network that operates in Afghanistan as well as the Pakistan-based LeT, which is blamed for the 26/11 attacks. He backed Sushma’s demand for bringing to book those behind the Mumbai attacks and this year’s strike on the Pathankot airbase. “It is vital that Pakistan join with other nations in tackling this challenge, and in fairness, in recent weeks and months they have been moving more authoritatively,” Kerry said.