Terror sanctuaries along Durand Line must be closed: Modi to tell Trump

New Delhi, Feb 24: Counter terror, Pakistan and Afghanistan would be on the table, when US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi meet on Tuesday for a bi-lateral.

The discussion on Afghanistan is particularly important as the US gets set to withdraw from the country. In the Indian context, Modi would look for stability in the region and hence Afghanistan would be discussed in detail.

One of the key concerns for India are the terror sanctuaries along the Durand Line that borders Afghanistan and Pakistan. These sanctuaries will need to be closed if peace and stability has to return to Afghanistan, Modi would tell Donald Trump. Further India would also look to ensure that the meddling by Pakistan is limited in Afghanistan. India would impress upon the US the importance of keeping Pakistan away from Afghanistan in case there has to be peace in the region.

Top sources in Delhi, tell OneIndia that Pakistan is another issue that would come up for discussions. The discussions are particularly important in the wake of Pakistan continuing to stay in the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force. The FATF had issued a stern warning to Pakistan and gave it time until June 2020 to clean up its act failing which it would be downgraded to the black list.

Both Modi and Trump are likely to issue a joint statement on Pakistan, asking it to take more action on terrorists. Further the two leaders would urge Pakistan to stop allowing its soil to be used by terrorists and not indulge in cross border terrorism.

During the Modi-Obama summit of 2015 and also the Trump-Modi summit in 2017, statements urging Pakistan to take decisive action on terrorists were issued. The source cited above said that a statement on Pakistan, stability in the region and Afghanistan would be issued by the two leaders following the summit.