Deputy NSA Rajinder Khanna with Chinese President Xi Jinping at a meeting of SCO NSAs in Beijing on Tuesday.PTIPTI  

India is likely to send senior representatives to discuss legal modalities of counter-terrorism for a meeting that Pakistan will host along with the members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), sources have said.

The confirmation came hours after Pakistan in a formal statement confirmed India’s participation.

Shows commitment

“The consultations in Islamabad is part of our commitment to fight international terrorism along with the members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and therefore, we are likely to send senior officials for the event in Pakistan,” said a government source here, indicating that India will make a powerful case on fighting terrorism in the world. The confirmation came after Pakistan welcomed legal experts from India, China and other member countries who will participate in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation-Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (SCO-RATS) that will be meeting in Islamabad from May 23 to 25.

“The legal experts will discuss terrorist threats facing the region and ways and means to enhance counter-terrorism cooperation between SCO member states,” said the spokesperson for Pakistan in a statement.

“Pakistan supports SCO’s efforts for regional cooperation in fighting terrorism, drug trafficking and organised crime. We are ready to share our experiences in tackling the menace of terrorism through the SCO-RATS,” he added.

Core agenda

As members of the SCO, countries are expected to be active in the SCO Secretariat and also participate in the RATS, headquartered at Tashkent. Counter-terrorism has been on the agenda of the SCO since its inception in 2001 but has been boosted since membership was granted to India and Pakistan in 2017.

The RATS held its meeting in the first week of April to finalise a draft for counter-terror cooperation for 2019-’21. The organisation also held a discussion in Delhi during January 31 to February 2. The event will be the first such time Pakistan will host India and other members of SCO to discuss a response to terrorism.