File photo: PM Modi receives Uzbekistan’s top State honour ‘Oliy Darajali Dustlik’, says India, Uzbek will become “united voice for Global South”

As the two countries elevated their relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership, Uzbekistan joined India in unequivocally condemning, in a joint statement, terrorism, including cross-border terrorism, in all its forms and manifestations, reiterated a zero-tolerance approach to terrorism and rejected justification of terrorism on any ground whatsoever.Even though the two countries share strong counter-terrorism cooperation, this formulation is significant as Uzbekistan has not used the specific phrase “cross-border terrorism” in past apex level joint statements, like those issued after summit meetings in 2015, 2018 and in 2020. As per sources, this reflects stronger diplomatic alignment on state-sponsored terrorism and regional security dynamics, especially in the context of the SCO summit Tuesday in which leaders will address issues like the need for stronger counter-terrorism measures and the Afghanistan situation.

“The leaders called for concerted actions against terrorist entities and for disrupting terrorism financing networks, safe havens and infrastructure. They stressed that those responsible for terrorism should be held accountable and their perpetrators, their backers, facilitators and affiliates should be brought to justice,” said the statement.

The strongest wording so far had come in the 2020 joint statement, after a virtual summit, in which PM Narendra Modi and President Shavkat Mirziyoyev condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and also underlined the need for every country to ensure that its territory is not used to launch terrorist attacks against other countries.The leaders stressed the importance of strengthening cooperation in law enforcement and intelligence-sharing, and combating violent extremism, illicit drug trafficking, organised crime and cyber threats. They also reaffirmed in the joint statement the importance of continued cooperation under the joint working group on counter-terrorism.India and Uzbekistan, which shares a border with Afghanistan, have shared concerns about radicalisation and influx of militant groups. For India, it’s important to work with Uzbekistan and other countries in the region to prevent Afghanistan from turning into a haven for terrorist groups, particularly like the LeT and JeM based in Pakistan. Tashkent is also home to RATS, a permanent SCO body responsible for coordinating efforts by member-states against terrorism, extremism and separatism.