Minister of External Affairs Ms Sushma Swaraj and Secretary of State Mr John Kerry on the occasion of the inaugural India-U.S. Strategic and Commercial Dialogue reaffirmed the commitment of India and the United States to combat terrorism in all its forms. Terrorism constitutes a profound threat to global peace and security, and to uphold our common values of democracy, justice and the rule of law.

The vision of President Obama’s and Prime Minister Modi to transform the U.S.-India relationship into a defining counterterrorism partnership for the 21st century was also reiterated. The two countries underlined the threat posed by entities such as Al-Qa’ida and its affiliates, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, D Company, Haqqani Network and other regional groups that seek to undermine stability in South Asia. They also called for Pakistan to bring to justice the perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai attack.

The two countries strongly condemned the July 27, 2015 terrorist attack in Gurdaspur, Punjab, and August 5, 2015, attack in Udhampur, Jammu and Kashmir. Both sides recognized the serious threat posed by ISIL/Da’esh to global security and affirmed efforts to degrade and defeat this threat in accordance with the provisions of United Nations Security Council Resolutions 2178, 2170 and 2199.