India has sought Russia’s support in combating terrorism in the region. During a meeting with the Russian Minister of Interior Vladimir Kolokoltsev, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh urged the Russian side to use its influence to impress upon Pakistan to dismantle terrorist groups operating from its soil and support Indian efforts to isolate Islamabad in international forums on the issue of terror.
Sources said the Indian side gave a detailed information about the recent terror activities and threat to India from terrorist groups like lashkar-e-Tayyeba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, which have been
targeting India.
India also sought cooperation with Russia in monitoring online terror activities by groups affiliated to ISIS. India urged Russia to keep an eye on the Indians trying to join the jehadi activities.
In this regard Russia shared its experience in keeping vigilance in the cyber space and combat close jehadi chat and online recruitment. Accordingly, the two sides agreed to set up an Expert Group on Cyber Security and counter-terrorism where they will share of experiences in the field of specialised training and exchange of experts. Drug trafficking and illegal weapons sale were another areas discussed.
The Russian side urged India to promptly share any information related to its citizens involved in any unwanted activities.
The meeting was a precursor to the Indo-Russia annual summit talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin to be held in Astrakhan (Russia) this year.