Joint muscle against LeT, D-Company, Haqqanis

Obama and Modi also agreed to continue to work towards an agreement to share information on known and suspected terrorists. (AP Photo)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi told a joint press conference with President Barack Obama that there should be no distinction between terrorist groups, and pressed for countries to fulfil their commitment to wipe out terror safe havens and bring them to justice. He said India and the US have agreed that there was need for a comprehensive global strategy and approach to combat terrorism.

“The leaders reaffirmed the need for joint and concerted efforts to disrupt entities such as Lashkar-e-Toiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, D-Company and the Haqqani Network, and agreed to continue ongoing efforts through the Homeland Security Dialogue as well as the next round of the US-India Joint Working Group on Counter Terrorism in late 2015 to develop actionable elements of bilateral engagement,” a joint statement said after the talks.

The US Department of Treasury had on January 17 declared Dawood Ibrahim’s D-Company as a transnational crime syndicate, and imposed sanctions against Dawood’s brother Anees Ibrahim Kaskar, Dawood’s aide Aziz Moosa Bilakhia, and Mehran Paper Mill, a Pakistan-based company that Dawood owns or controls.

Obama and Modi also agreed to continue to work towards an agreement to share information on known and suspected terrorists, and to deepen collaboration on UN terrorist designations. They reiterated their call for Pakistan to bring the perpetrators of the November 2008 terrorist attack in Mumbai to justice, the joint statement said.