Modern,civilised states should not hide terrorists: Medvedev

Russian President Dimitri Medvedev,who is on a 2-day visit to the country,held extensive talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday afternoon on the need to boost international cooperation to fight terror.

“The sides agreed that all terrorist networks must be defeated. They called upon Pakistan to expeditiously bring all perpetrators,authors and accomplices of the November 2008 Mumbai attacks to justice,” the joint statement,issued after the talks,said.

“Terrorists are criminals… they should be extradited to be punished. Those who hide terrorists conceal criminals,” Medvedev said at a joint press conference with Singh when asked how Russia looked at safe havens of terror operations in the region and how it can expand cooperation with India in dealing with this menace.

“We understand the extradition process is quite complicated but it is important that international cooperation in this field should be in place between all those interested in the fight against terrorism,” Medvedev said.

“I believe that no modern civilised state can hide terrorists as law abiding citizens and cannot proceed on the assumption that they will change,” he said.

“They are subject to punishment for the evils they have committed. To extradite them we need legal,bilateral frameworks,bilateral agreements between two countries. Once they are in place they should be applied between countries,including countries in this region,” the Russian president said.

Russia and India also pledged to share intelligence and work together to fight international terror as the two historic allies signed a clutch of agreements aimed at reinvigorating their relationship.

President Dmitry Medvedev held nearly two hours of talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh hoping to boost trade and investment in both countries.

With Singh and Medvedev looking on,officials signed agreements to deepen cooperation in the nuclear energy,pharmaceutical and information technology sectors.

During the Cold War,India and the Soviet Union shared a deep relationship,while the United States tilted towards India’s neighbour Pakistan. In recent years,India has moved closer to the United States,but its strategic partnership with Russia has endured.

“Russia is a time-tested friend of India that has stood by us in our times of need,” Singh told reporters after the talks.

The fight against terror was a major focus of their talks,the two leaders said.

Both countries have been the victim of major terror assaults,with Pakistan-based gunmen killing 166 people in the Indian city of Mumbai in a 60-hour siege in 2008 and Russia suffering a string of deadly attacks by Chechen rebels.

“We are determined to work together to cooperate in information and intelligence sharing and in devising effective counter terrorism strategies,” Singh said.

“We have suffered seriously from terror attacks,” Medvedev said,adding that the Russian and Indian “law enforcement agencies should cooperate.”

Both Russia and India reaffirmed that international terrorism is a threat to peace and security,a grave violation of human rights,and a crime against humanity.

“They agreed that there is no justification whatsoever for any act of terrorism,and that multi-ethnic democratic countries like India and Russia were especially vulnerable to acts of terrorism which are attacks against the values and freedoms enshrined in their societies,” the joint statement said.

Reaffirming the need for all states to combine efforts to vanquish this evil,the two sides agreed that all terrorist networks must be defeated.

“They called upon Pakistan to expeditiously bring all perpetrators,authors and accomplices of the November 2008 Mumbai attacks to justice,” the statement said.

India expressed sympathy for the victims of the terrorist attacks in the Moscow metro stations in March 2010,and expressed support for Russia’s efforts to eliminate terrorism from Russian soil.

Expressing concern at the “deteriorating” security situation in Afghanistan,the two sides noted that a successful stabilisation will be possible only after the elimination of safe havens and infrastructure for terrorism and violent extremism that are present in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

In this context,the two sides also underscored the importance of stepped-up action by the International Security Assistance Force in combating production and trafficking of illegal narcotics in Afghanistan.

The sides welcomed the Afghan government’s policy of reintegrating those individuals who agree to give up violence,adhere to the Afghan constitution and do not have ties with Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups.

Both sides highlighted the need for the strict observance of the sanctions regime against persons and entities listed by the UN Security Council Resolution 1267 Sanctions Committee.