Tashkent/New Delhi: India and Uzbekistan strongly condemned the April 22, 2025, terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, during the 9th meeting of the India-Uzbekistan Joint Working Group on Counter Terrorism, held in Tashkent on September 30.
According to a statement by India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the meeting was co-chaired by Vinod J Bahade, Joint Secretary (Counter Terrorism), MEA, and Gulomjon Pirimkulov, Head of the Department for Cooperation with South Asia, Middle East and Africa, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan.
Both sides held in-depth discussions on global and regional threats posed by terrorist groups and exchanged views on emerging counter-terrorism challenges. These included preventing the financing of terrorism, combating extremism and radicalization, countering the use of technology by terrorists, and addressing the links between transnational organized crime and terrorism.
The two nations also emphasized the importance of strengthening bilateral cooperation through intelligence sharing, capacity building, and exchange of best practices. They reaffirmed their joint commitment to work together in multilateral platforms such as the United Nations, SCO-RATS (Shanghai Cooperation Organization – Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure), and the Eurasian Group on Combating Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism (EAG).
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), the Indian Embassy in Uzbekistan stated, “9th meeting of Joint Working Group on Counter Terrorism between India and Uzbekistan was held today in Tashkent. Both sides discussed cooperation in countering terrorism and radicalization.”
The previous (8th) meeting was held in New Delhi on July 16, 2019. That meeting was co-chaired by Mahaveer Singhvi, then Joint Secretary (Counter Terrorism), MEA, and Ambassador Farhod Azriev of Uzbekistan.
The next round of the Joint Working Group will take place in India on a mutually agreed date.
