PM Narendra Modi at G-20 Summit says some countries are using terrorism to achieve political goals; equates LeT, JeM to ISIS, Al-Qaeda saying their names may be different, but their ideology is the same
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron talk ahead of a working session on the first day of the G20 summit in Hamburg yesterday. Pic/AFP
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Naming Pakistan-based terror groups LeT and JeM, Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday said some countries were using terror as a tool to achieve political Objectives, and pressed for "deterrent" action collectively by the G-20 members against such nations.
Addressing the G-20 Summit here, he equated Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohamamd to ISIS and Al-Qaeda, saying their names may be different but their ideology is the same.
With leaders like US President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping listening, Modi regretted that the international response to terrorism was weak and said more cooperation was needed to fight the menace.
The prime minister presented an 11-point 'Action Agenda' which included suggestions for exchange of lists of terrorists among G-20 nations, easing and expediting of legal processes like extradition and concrete steps to choke funds and weapon supply to the terrorists.
"Some nations are using terrorism for achieving political goals," Modi said in a clear reference to Pakistan.
He named LeT and JeM as terror operatives in the South Asia like Daesh (ISIS) and Al-Qaeda in the Middle East and Boko Haram in Nigeria. "Their only ideology is to spread hatred and commit massacres," he added.
Regretting that the international response to terrorism has been "weak", Modi said the nations are less networked in dealing with the menace while the terrorists are better networked.
Modi, Xi meet
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping yesterday shook hands and had a conversation on a "range of issues" during the BRICS leaders' informal meeting amid a stand-off between the armies of the two countries in the Sikkim section. The conversation took place on the sidelines of the G20 Summit.
In a tweet, external affairs ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay said Modi and Xi discussed a range of issues.
The ministry also tweeted a photograph of Modi and Xi shaking hands. The meeting assumes significance as it comes a day after a top Chinese official said the "atmosphere" is "not right" for a bilateral meeting between Modi and Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 Summit.
'Ulterior motives'
China said yesterday that "ulterior motives" prompted India to include the tri-junction with Bhutan in the Sikkim standoff and asserted that New Delhi's acceptance of the 1890 Sino-British treaty on the boundaries in the area should not change with the passage of time.
"The so-called tri-junction point as the name implies is a point instead of a line or an area," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a media briefing.
Asked about India's assertion that China is violating the agreement reached by the Special Representatives on the boundary in 2012 over the tri-junction, Geng said the road being built by China has nothing to do with it.
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