US may increase list of designated terrorist groups, individuals

Reports came after first round of two-day US-India dialogue on designations of terror groups

After a first round of a two-day dialogue with India in New Delhi, it seems Washington is inclines on including more fascist groups and individuals in their list of designated terrorists.



According to a Times of India (TOI) report, Joint Secretary in-charge of America's division in the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Munu Mahawar and officials from other ministries, including the home ministry met with officials from the US homeland security on December 18 and 19. The US will host the second round of the dialogue in 2018.

“The establishment of an 'India-US designations dialogue' mechanism reflected shared US and Indian commitments to strengthen cooperation against terrorist threats,” the report quoted the Indian MEA as saying in a statement.

It added that the dialogue was held to discuss increasing bilateral cooperation on terrorism-related designations.

"The Indian and US delegations exchanged information on procedures for pursuing designations against terrorist groups and individuals, through domestic and international mechanisms. They also discussed best practices for effective implementation of the designations," the Indian MEA said. The TOI report further stated that the statement was also released by the US.

The report continued that the dialogue came amidst China blocking the designation of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar.

Beijing has said that it cannot support sanctions against Masood Azhar since New Delhi was not providing any ‘solid evidence’.



The Hindustan Times, in its report, asserted that the statement by the Indian MEA gave rise to speculation that Washington and New Delhi could be looking at designating and issuing sanctions against more people involved in terror-related activities in the region.

This story originally appeared on the Times of India.