US Acting Coordinator for Counterterrorism to visit India next week
Dec 09, 2022
Washington [US], December 9 : US Acting Coordinator for Counterterrorism Timothy Betts is set to pay an official two-day visit to India next week to review regional and global terrorist threat assessments.
Betts' trip is part of the three-nation tour which includes visits to Japan and the Philippines.
During his New Delhi visit, Betts will lead the US delegation at the annual US-India Counterterrorism Joint Working Group on December 12-13.
"The Joint Working Group will review regional and global terrorist threat assessments, collaborative bilateral and regional counterterrorism programming, and initiatives to strengthen law enforcement and judicial partnerships," the US State Department said in a statement.
This visit comes a month after India hosted a Special Meeting of the United Nations Security Council's Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) in Mumbai and Delhi on October 28-29.
After the two-day meeting, a "Delhi Declaration" was issued which reaffirmed that terrorism in all forms and manifestations constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security.
The statement reaffirmed that terrorism should not be associated with any religion, nationality, civilization or ethnic group. The Declaration also noted with concern the increased use, in a globalized society, by terrorists.
This month, India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ruchira Kamboj said that India will be deliberating on United Nations reforms and global counter-terrorism during the December presidency of the UNSC.
"We will bring the same spirit to our December presidency. The focus is on two major themes - one, an all-encompassing theme focused on building a new orientation towards reformed multilateralism and the second theme will be the focus on global counter-terrorism approach and the way forward," said Kamboj.
At the Counter Terror committee briefing, Kamboj presented the outcomes of the special meeting of the committee in India in October.
"By agreeing to Delhi declaration (special meeting of CTC), Counter-Terrorism Committee pledged its continued dedication and commitment to work to counter the use of new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes," she said.
Kamboj added that the declaration is a pioneering document aimed at enhancing the council's approach to addressing this threat in a comprehensive manner.
