The Progress of India’s Efforts for a Joint Counter-Terrorism Strategy with China!

India signed the joint counter-terrorism mechanism with China in 2002, recognizing that every nation is a target of international terrorism. It is one of the bilateral agreements signed by India with other countries after 9/11 terror attacks. A significant addition was made to this in 2005, the joint counter-terrorism was extended to include “separatism & extremism”, so as to suit Chinese problem of Uighur extremism and Dalai Lama’s separatist movement.

India & China recently concluded its fifth round of dialogue on counter terrorism, as an effort to enhance cooperation in this sphere. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is a multilateral organization for regional cooperation and is the first international organization to set counter-terrorism as its target. India & China have used SCO for furthering their cooperation on counter-terrorism. The BRICS forum is also used for achieving counter-terror objectives by India-China jointly.

The problem of terrorism/religious extremism faced by China in Xianjiang has certain similarities with that faced by India in the Punjab and Jammu-Kashmir in the present. In Xianjiang, the role of Uighur Diaspora in the Central Asian Republics(CARs), Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the West in fomenting terrorist violence and political destabilisation has been as considerable as in the case of the Sikh diasporas in the Indian Punjab.

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Beijing’s policy in tackling terrorism in Xianjiang, like that of the US has much disinclination to hold Pakistan accountable for the jihadi terrorism in the Indian territory.

The recent jihadi terrorism in Xianjiang and its probable links with the ISI, though has not led to any change in China’s policy except in supporting Pakistan’s efforts in dismantling terrorism, and it is this aspect which has strategic implication for India. Nevertheless, Beijing’s efforts may be expected to strengthen its joint efforts with India to counter-terrorism initially at least within Asia. This area of cooperation is expected to boost relations between the two further.