India, EU likely to sign a pact on counter-terrorism

New Delhi, Nov 5 (PTI) Keen on substantially raising their
cooperation in counter-terrorism, India and the 27-nation
European Union are likely to sign an agreement on enhancing
cooperation in the field when both sides meet for the summit
level talks here this week.
"An agreement to enhance security cooperation may be
signed between the two sides during the the summit," Lars-Olof
Lindgren, Ambassador of Sweden told PTI.
India Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will hold summit talks
with his Swedish counterpart Fredrik Reinfeldt whose country
is the current chair of the European Union.
He said EU's Counter-Terrorism Coordinator Gilles de
Kerchove had held wide ranging talks with Indian officials
here last month to explore possibility of broadening
cooperation between the two sides on security related issues.
Intelligence sharing, research and development of skills
of counter-terror security forces are some of the areas
identified by Kerchove. The EU also wants to learn from India
about how to curb financing of terrorists considering its
experience in working against Hawala channels.
"The threats of terrorism and ways to tackle it will
feature prominently in the discussions at the summit," the
Ambassador said.
Kerchove was here last month to "hear the lessons learned"
from 26/11 and discussed the security issues with National
Security Adviser M K Narayanan, Home Secretary G K Pillai and
intelligence agencies including RAW. (MORE) PTI