Thaindian News

By Naveen Kapoor

Thimphu (Bhutan), Feb.7 (ANI): Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir on Monday said that India and Pakistan have agreed to work together in countering militancy.

Speaking on the sidelines of a South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Council of Ministers meeting here, Bashir, who met his Indian counterpart, Nirupama Rao, on Sunday,said the meeting was a productive exchange of views.

He also lauded both countries for working towards issues that concern them.

Reacting on Indian Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram’s recent statement on the 2007 Samjhauta Express train blast, where he said Islamic militant groups were behind the incident, Bashir said: “I’m not in a position to really comment on what the Home Minister had said. Of course, every incident of terrorism is despicable. We condemn it whether it takes place in India or in Pakistan or elsewhere. This is a common issue. It is a global issue, it’s a regional issue. I think the good thing is that we have agreed to corporate to deal with this issue, as along with all the other issues and there is a belief, quite a large area of convergence in where there are divergences, we need to work on them.”

He added that it is wrong to link any militant activity with any religion.

Bashir also said the perpetrators of attacks such as the Mumbai strikes of November 26, 2008, should be brought to justice.

“The government strategy is that any such thing like the 26/11 or anything else, the perpetrators must be brought to justice. I think we are proceeding accordingly,” said Bashir.

The SAARC is a grouping of eight South Asian nations - Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Over the SAARC summit, eight South Asian countries will discuss ways to relax visa norms and take forward various other initiatives, including cooperation in the fight against terrorism. (ANI)