Pakistan and EU Condemn All Forms of Terrorism, Vow to Fight the Menace

Islamabad: Pakistan and the European Union (EU) have condemned terrorism in all its forms and agreed to strengthen their cooperation at multilateral forums, including the UN, to advance a coherent counterterrorism approach, the Foreign Office said on Thursday.

The agreement was reached during the 10th round of the Pakistan-EU Bilateral Counterterrorism Dialogue, held in Islamabad.

The Pakistan delegation was led by Fareha Bugti, Director General (Counter Terrorism), while the EU side was headed by Anna Strzaska, the EU External Action Service's Special Envoy for Counterterrorism.

The two sides "exchanged views on recent regional and global developments impacting the terrorism threat landscape and issued an unequivocal condemnation of terrorism in all its forms, reaffirming commitment to combating this threat".

The EU side condemned the recent terrorist attacks in Pakistan, expressed solidarity with the sufferings of innocent civilians affected and recognised the value of Pakistan's efforts to combat terrorism, the Foreign Office said.

"Acknowledging each other's role in the ongoing global fight against terrorism, Pakistan and the EU expressed concern at the security implications of the situation in Afghanistan," it said.

Pakistan and the EU agreed to strengthen their cooperation at multilateral forums, including the United Nations, to advance a coherent counterterrorism approach. They maintained that effective multilateralism remains essential to building lasting international consensus on terrorism.

The discussions also addressed the evolving nature of terrorist threats, including exploitation of cyberspace, information and energy resources for advancing their objectives.

Pakistan and the EU exchanged best practices on preventing and countering violent extremism, terrorism financing and radicalisation in all forms, particularly the use of cyberspace by terrorists, among other critical areas in addressing the evolving terrorist threat.

They identified priority areas for cooperation and reaffirmed their commitment to regular, institutionalised engagement on counterterrorism.

It was agreed that the next round of the counterterrorism dialogue will be held in Brussels at a mutually convenient date next year, the Foreign Office said.