Need to treat militants without differentiation: India to US

Washington, Dec 11: India has told the US that terrorists of all shades must be tackled without any differentiation as the Defence Ministers of the two nations discussed threats posed by groups like the Islamic State and Pakistan-based entities LeT and D Company.

"The issue of terrorism was a key topic discussion in all engagements terrorism has become a global phenomenon and requires a comprehensive response," Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar told reporters at a joint press conference with his US counterpart Ashton Carter after their meeting yesterday.

"Terrorists of all shades and affiliations must be countered without any differentiation," he said.

The two leaders discussed a range of regional security issues, including the threat posed by the Islamic State and entities such as Al-Qaeda and its affiliates, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammad, D Company, the Haqqani Network and other regional terror groups, according the joint statement.

Carter said terrorism of all kinds in South Asia has been and remains a serious problem. India, he said, has been attacked and is continuously threatened with attack from terrorists.

In the wake of the latest incident of terrorism in the US by a Pakistani-origin couple who gunned down 14 people, Carter said at the joint press event that the US had regular conversations with India about the issue.

"We have regular conversations with India both about counterterrorism and about regional security issues," he said.

"And with respect to India, I'll just say that counterterrorism clearly is a key common interest," Carter said.

"We work a lot together on that." "And then we have a wide range of geopolitical, strategic and technology areas of cooperation as well. So it's a very wide-ranging relationship. In today's world, you can't leave out terrorism," Carter said.

Meanwhile, India ruled out any enhancement of its role in the Middle East in view of the emergence of deadly Islamic State in Syria and Libya.

Parrikar said there has been no change in India's policy on participating only in UN approved peacekeeping missions. But India is and has been sharing intelligence with the US on issues related to terrorism, he said.

PTI