India and Britain on Tuesday agreed to work more closely to fight terrorism following talks between Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram and his British counterpart Alan Johnson.
Mr. Chidambaram also held talks with Foreign Secretary David Miliband as part of what was described as continuing India-UK bilateral dialogue on security and intelligence-related issues.
While the Foreign Office declined to disclose details, the Home Office said that a “range of issues including counter-terrorism” were discussed.
Mr. Johnson described his meeting with Mr. Chidambaram as “productive” and said that both India and Britain recognised that fighting terrorism required closer cooperation between their security agencies.
“We both recognise that terrorism is a shared threat and defeating it requires the efforts of the wider community as well as security and law enforcement agencies in both our countries.
“The close relationships between our countries allow us to work together on these issues and we are committed to finding ways in which we can strengthen cooperation still further,” Mr. Johnson said.
During his three-day visit, Mr. Chidambaram also met senior British security officials and counter-terror experts besides visiting major intelligence and security institutions. It was stated that he wanted to “familiarise” himself with the latest methods of intelligence collection, particularly relating to counter-terrorism.
