(MENAFN- IANS) Tashkent, Oct 1 (IANS) India and Uzbekistan held the 9th meeting of Joint Working Group on Counter Terrorism in Tashkent, holding discussions on strengthening bilateral cooperation in counter-terrorism through information sharing, capacity building and sharing of best practices.

The meeting held in Tashkent on Tuesday was co-chaired by Vinod J Bahade, the Counter Terrorism Joint Secretary at the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and Gulomjon Pirimkulov, Head of Department for Cooperation with South Asia, Middle East and Africa of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan. The officials of two nations condemned the terrorist attack that took place in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam on April 22.

"The two sides discussed threats posed by terrorist groups globally and in their respective regions. Both sides exchanged views on current and emerging challenges to counter-terrorism including countering extremism and radicalization, combating financing of terrorism, preventing use of technology for terrorist purposes, nexus between transnational organized crime and terrorism and global movement of terrorists. Both sides condemned the dastardly terrorist attack on innocent civilians on 22 April 2025 in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, India," read a statement issued by the MEA.

The officials of two nations reaffirmed commitment to strengthen cooperation in multilateral fora, including the United Nations, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Executive Committee of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (SCO-RATS) and Eurasian Group on Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (EAG). According to the MEA statement, the next meeting of the Joint Working Group will be held in India on a mutually convenient date.

In August, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on the sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in China's Tianjin. Calling the partnership between India and Uzbekistan "dynamic", PM Modi noted that two nations continue to expand cooperation across various sectors.

"Met President Shavkat Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan. India and Uzbekistan are bound by a dynamic partnership that continues to expand across culture, economy and people-to-people ties", PM Modi posted on X.

Notably, India was one of the first countries to recognise the state sovereignty of Uzbekistan after the latter's independence. The protocol on establishment of diplomatic ties between India and Uzbekistan was signed in Tashkent in 1992. India and Uzbekistan declared their Strategic Partnership in 2011. Several institutionalised dialogue mechanisms operate at political and official levels under this partnership to ensure regular interaction and follow-up on cooperation activities.

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