Pak, Russia express concerns over the rising threat posed by Islamic State

Islamabad briefed Moscow's delegation about major successes it has achieved in the fight against terrorism

The seventh meeting of the Pakistan Russia Joint Working Group on counter-terrorism discussed a wide ranging agenda covering the current situation on a regional and global level.

Pakistan's side was led by Director General Counter Terrorism Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ahmad Farooq, while the Russian side was led by Director Department for New Challenges of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ilya Roghachev. Both delegations also included officials from relevant departments dealing with counter terrorism.

The delegations discussed actions taken by both countries to tackle the menace of terrorism as well as bilateral cooperation on the issue.

There was broad agreement on the fact that terrorism is a common global threat which requires cooperative efforts of the international community for effectively eradicating it.



Islamabad briefed Moscow's delegation about the major successes it had achieved in the fight against terrorism through kinetic actions as well as implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP) on ridding the nation of terrorism. The Russian side highly appreciated Pakistan’s contribution to the global fight against terrorism.

Both sides expressed grave concern over the rising threat posed by Islamic State. While major successes had been achieved in the fight against IS in Syria and Iraq, the returning fighters from the conflict zones to countries of origin or third countries constituted a major security threat to various parts of the world, including this region. It is important for countries of the region to cooperate to counter this threat, officials shared.

The two sides reaffirmed the commitment for promoting bilateral cooperation for countering terrorism. They also agreed to cooperate at the United Nations and other international fora for combating terrorism.

The discussions were held in a cordial and frank manner and there was commonality of views on all issues. It was agreed that the next meeting of the JWG would be held in Moscow in 2019.