New Delhi: Oct 7 India and Italy Wednesday concluded discussions on a wide gamut of areas of cooperation in counter terrorism and organised crime, including drug trafficking and the emerging regional and global terrorist threats.
The talks were held during the sixth meeting of the India-Italy Joint Working Group (JWG) on Counter Terrorism and Organised Crime and the second meeting of the India-Italy Permanent Task Force on Countering Financing of Terrorism held in New Delhi October 6-7, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated.
The meetings were co-chaired by Suhel Ajaz Khan, MEA’s Additional Secretary on Counter Terrorism and Paolo Mari, Joint Secretary for G7-G20, Transnational Threats and Integrated Strategy, Directorate General for Political Affairs and International Security at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy. Counter terrorism agencies from both countries participated in the meetings.
“Condemning terrorism in all and its forms and manifestations, including cross-border terrorism, the two sides reiterated their condemnation of the heinous terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir 22 April 2025,” read the MEA statement.
“Reaffirming the need for strengthening cooperation in effectively countering the misuse of new and emerging technologies including information, communication and financial technologies for terrorist purposes, the two sides discussed ways to strengthen capacity building and information exchange to counter the emerging and non-traditional threats,” it added.
The meeting of the Permanent Task Force focused on strengthening cooperation in countering terrorism financing under the India-Italy Joint Initiative on Countering Financing of Terrorism, which was launched by the Prime Ministers of the two countries on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Johannesburg in November 2025.
According to the MEA, both sides also discussed enhancing multilateral cooperation in counter terrorism, including in the UN, GCTF and FATF. They also agreed to hold the next meeting of the Joint Working Group and the Permanent Task Force in Rome, Italy on mutually convenient dates.
