Brussels: India and Belgium on Wednesday vowed to work together to counter the “misuse” of religion by groups and countries for perpetrating terror acts, as they underlined the need for all nations to effectively deal with terrorism emanating from their soil or territories under their control.
Speaking alongside his Belgian counterpart Charles Michel here, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “In this time of crisis, the whole of India stands in full support and solidarity with the Belgian people.”
In a joint statement, the two sides reaffirmed that “no issue or cause can justify dreadful and indiscriminate acts of violence against innocent people.”
Just days after the March 22 multiple terror attacks here, the meeting recognised the “urgent need to disrupt terror networks, their financing channels, eliminate terrorist safe havens and cross-border movement of terrorists.”
The two sides also agreed to facilitate regular exchanges of civil society to promote peace and tolerance.
As the second-largest trade partners in the EU, India and Belgium pitched for resumption of the long-stalled negotiations on the India-EU free trade agreement (FTA) on “mutually agreed terms” as both the leaders resolved to strengthen their bilateral ties, adding that they were committed to boost the economic engagement by diversifying the bilateral trade basket and expanding investment ties.
