India, Germany to jointly combat terrorism

Emphasising that terrorism is a global scourge, India and Germany on Friday resolved to jointly combat it as well as called upon all countries to root out terrorist safe havens and infrastructure, disrupt terror networks and financing channels and halt cross-border movement of terrorists.

In a joint statement issued after the 5th Inter Governmental Consultations here between visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the two sides emphasised the need for stronger international partnership in countering terrorism and preventing violent extremism, including through increased sharing of information and intelligence and in full compliance with the rule of law and international law, including human rights law and international humanitarian law.

The two leaders underlined the need for all countries to ensure that their territory is not used to launch terrorist attacks on other countries in any manner.

They stressed the importance of the combined effort of all countries to fight global terrorism and to send out a consistent message that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations is not acceptable to the international community.

Referring to the need for presenting a united front in the fight against this global menace, the two leaders called for the finalisation and adoption of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) in March 2020.

Both leaders also agreed that India and Germany must continue their cooperation within the framework of the Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism, including on information and intelligence sharing on terror networks and work together to share experiences on dealing with the growing phenomenon of radicalisation. They asked officials on both sides to schedule the next meeting of the Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism at the earliest, the joint statement said.

The 73-point statement had a large section devoted to 'Strengthening Cooperation in the Field of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Transformation'.

Under it, both sides decided to intensify cooperation towards collaboration on the next generation technologies.

India and Germany aspire to build a collaborative partnership by leveraging advantages on each side recognising increasing integration of hardware and software in developing Internet of Things and AI solutions for societal benefits.

"Both sides have drawn out their country strategies on AI and recognise its potential on research and innovation as well as on society in general. The potential synergies in focus areas such as Health, Mobility, Environment and Agriculture offer immense opportunities for enhancing cooperation and building on our comparative advantages. Germany and India intend to engage in further cooperation especially by fostering multidisciplinary research and development in AI by sharing expertise and best practices. The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the Department of Science and Technology, through the Indo-German Science and Technology Centre, agreed to organise a bilateral workshop in Berlin in 2020 in order to identify areas of mutual interest," the statement said.

Both sides are to enhance collaboration in the area of AI for health. They welcomed the first stakeholder meeting in Berlin in September 2019 and agreed on facilitating another such meeting in India.

Both leaders welcomed AI collaborations in agriculture such as precision farming with the aim to increase efficiency and to save resources as well as reduction of food losses and waste. Additionally, both ministries of agriculture aim to establish open training datasets for AI applications that also address legal issues.

Both sides welcomed the Round Table with NITI Aayog and German companies of September 30 for exploring opportunities for the application and upscaling of digital technologies and AI in agriculture in India, ensuring the participation of the private sector.

Germany and India agreed to share research on the complexities arising out of adoption of AI in the workplace and its impact on the economy and society through a joint workshop.

Germany and India want to foster business cooperation in the digital sector.

The other points in the joint statement were on expanding frontiers of trade and investment through innovation and knowledge, and taking action for climate and sustainable development.

( With inputs from IANS )