Ajit Doval, Pakistan counterpart agree to cooperate to jointly fight international terrorism

ITDC INDIA EPRESS/ ITDC NEWS National Security Officer Ajit Doval attended a meeting with the top security officials from the member nations of the Shanghai Corporation Organisation (SCO) in Tajikistan capital Dushanbe on Wednesday.

Tajikistan, the current president of the SCO, is hosting the meeting of the top national security officials of the eight-nation grouping on June 23 and 24.

 At the meeting, where Pakistan National Security Adviser Moeed Yusuf was present, security advisers from member nations vowed to cooperate to fight international terrorism, extremism and separatism jointly.

The NSAs also discussed cooperation in tackling religious radicalism and the risks of increasing transnational organized crime, including arms and drug trafficking.

Yusuf had previously said that there was no possibility of a bilateral meeting with his Indian counterpart on the sidelines of the SCO meeting.

In September 2020, Ajit Doval left the SCO virtual meeting halfway after Pakistan showed a "fictitious" map violating the meeting's agenda.

The SCO was founded at a summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the Presidents of Russia, China and the four Central Asian countries of Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. India and Pakistan became permanent members of the SCO in 2017.

A statement by the SCO said Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) could be essential in strengthening ties between member states in combating threats and challenges of the modern world.

At the meeting, member states also discussed fighting cybercrime and the issues of biological security and food security in relation to the coronavirus pandemic.

Doval meets Russian counterpart, discusses plans for bilateral interaction in the security sphere

Doval met his Russian counterpart Nikolai Patrushev on the sidelines of the SCO meeting in Tajikistan during which they discussed plans for the Russia-India interaction in the security sphere and cooperation among the security and law-enforcement agencies, according to a media report.

 According to the press service of the Russian Security Council’s office, the annual meeting of secretaries of SCO on Wednesday focused on the COVID-19 pandemic aftermath.