Modi-Biden bilateral saw concern expressed on Pak support to hardline elements in Afghanistan: Foreign Secretary

Washington: The bilateral between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden saw “very careful consideration” by both sides on the support given to hard line elements in Afghanistan, including terrorist groups, by Pakistan and there was a clear concern expressed in that regard, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said.

Addressing the media after the first in-person bilateral between PM Modi and President Biden at the White House on Friday, Shringla said : “There was very careful consideration by both sides on the support given to certain hard line elements in that country (Afghanistan), including terrorist groups by certain neighbor (Pakistan) of Afghanistan. I think there was there was a clear concern expressed in that regard on Pakistan’s role in Afghanistan and their continuing support for a certain approach that did not seem to be conducive to the international community’s, expectations of what Afghanistan should be like.”

He said the UN Security Council resolution 2593 on Afghanistan, adopted during India’s presidency last month, is the gauge by which the international community would judge the situation in that country and developments there.

He said that “both in the Indo-US bilateral relationship as well as bilateral discussions as well as in the QUAD discussions there was a clear sense that a more careful look and more careful examination and monitoring of Pakistan’s role in Afghanistan, Pakistan’s role on the issue of terrorism, had to be kept, and that certainly, whether it’s a QUAD with its other partners, had to keep a track of that factor.

“An important factor, which sometimes gets overlooked, when you see Pakistan projecting itself as a facilitator whereas, it has really been in many senses an instigator of some of the problems that we’re dealing with, in our neighborhood and beyond,” he added.

During the talks, there was appreciation of India’s Presidency of the UN Security Council, especially on the issue of Afghanistan, but also on the overall cooperation that we have with the US in the UN in general and the Security Council in particular, he added.

Counter-terrorism was a key focus area in the bilateral talks. The pernicious role played by Pakistan in Afghanistan, and the need for the international community to be cognizant of this, found resonance with US interlocutors, it is learnt.

An MOU on Customs Cooperation was signed prior to the Prime Minister’s visit.

An MOU on Health Cooperation was finalized, and will be signed soon. This will help cooperation in health and biomedical sciences.

The next round of various sectoral dialogues will be scheduled as follow-up to the bilateral meeting. These include the Joint Working Group on Counter Terrorism; Designations Dialogue; Homeland Security Dialogue; Defence Policy Group; Health Dialogue and Trade Policy Forum (both at Ministerial level).

The joint statement issued by both sides after the meeting, had a large paragraph devoted to terrorism.

UNI/RN