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Indo-German strategic dialogue |
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India and Germany held discussions on the the fragile political situation in Pakistan and Islamabad’s role in the global coalition at their the third round of strategic dialogue with Germany as its state secretary in the Foreign Office Juergen Chrobog was in India ahead of Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder’s visit to New Delhi on October 29. Chrobog, who travelled to New Delhi from Pakistan, shared his assessment of the political situation there as anti-US rioting raged on. Indo-German talks also focused on the future of Afghanistan after the Taliban is replaced. Chrobog’s dialogue with Minister for External Affairs Jaswant Singh, National Security Advisor Brajesh Mishra and Foreign Secretary Chokila Iyer also centered on the “new agenda of international politics in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks, in particular in Afghanistan after the start of the military operations”. India impressed on Chrobog the need for strengthening the implementation of the UN Resolution 1373 which calls on member states to terminate any passive or active support to terrorist organisations. India has been targeting Pakistan’s “moral support” to terrorist organisations such as Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Toiba and has been calling for freezing of funds to these organisations. Germany also supports the UN Convention against Terrorism that India has been lobbying to adopt this winter. During the discussions, that India described as “extremely satisfying” the German delegation recalled and reiterated their Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer’s statement strongly condemning the Srinagar attack of October 1. In an effort to reassure India that Berlin will not abandon the cause of friendly countries such as India, Chrobog reaffirmed Germany’s “commitment to combat terrorism everywhere”. Within this context, Pakistan’s role in the global coalition also came up for discussions. During Singh’s recent visit to Berlin, Schroeder had pledged German support to fight terrorism everywhere and condemned the October attacks. He had said: “Germany does not distinguish between terrorist attacks whether they occur in USA or in Kashmir”.
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