India minister says "sincerity" needed to fight terror
09 Feb 2009 12:04:37 GMT Source: Reuters
By Nizam Ahmed DHAKA, Feb 9 (Reuters) - India and Bangladesh discussed on Monday setting up an anti-terrorism task force, but Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee said for such a mechanism to work participants must be sincere and committed. A South Asia task force against terrorism was an idea mooted by Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina following attacks in Mumbai late last year in which nearly 200 people were killed. India says the attackers were Pakistani and Pakistan state actors were involved, and has accused Islamabad of dragging its feet in moving against those responsible. Without referring to a specific country, India's Mukherjee told a news conference he felt sincerity was critical in fighting terrorism. "Due to lack of sincerity, inability and unwillingness to fight terrorism, a global issue, the architectures do not work," he said. He arrived in Dhaka earlier on Monday for the 1-day visit. "I discussed the viability of the proposed task force with Prime Minister Hasina and Foreign Minister Dipu Moni, besides signing two agreements on bilateral trade and investment promotion and protection," Mukherjee said. Moni said Dhaka would shortly discuss the task force proposal with other regional countries to try to agree on details.Bangladesh has been hit by attacks from outlawed Islamist groups, who killed some 30 people in a series of bombings in late 2005 and want majority-Muslim Bangladesh to base its government on Islamic sharia law. Hasina, who herself survived a grenade attack by Islamists in 2004, proposed the task force before the December 29 election that swept her Awami League to power for a 5-year term. Mukherjee and the Bangladesh leaders discussed an "entire range" of common issues, including trade, transit, water sharing, maritime boundary and terrorism, officials said. They said the two sides renewed for the next 3 years a bilateral trade agreement effective since 1980, and signed a new agreement to safeguard investments in one another's country. Bangladesh annually imports about $2 billion worth of products from India, and earns nearly $400 million from exports there, officials said. India is the largest trading partner of Bangladesh in both imports and exports. New Delhi often accuses Bangladeshi militants of conducting attacks in India, mainly in its northeastern region. Bangladesh denies the allegations, but said it would hunt down any such groups if it received concrete intelligence about them. Bangladesh asked for demarcation of a maritime boundary in the Bay of Bengal and an end to disputes over border crimes and water sharing. The two countries share a 4,000 km (2,500 mile) porous border through jungles and rivers, along which their border forces often exchange fire to stop smuggling and illegal crossings. (Editing by Anis Ahmed and Jerry Norton)
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