Moscow: India and Uzbekistan have agreed to closely interact to combat the "common" threat of terrorism, hold joint training of personnel and exchange information and expertise.

The first meeting of the India – Uzbekistan joint working group (JWG) on combating international terrorism in Tashkent, which concluded on April 22, "assessed that both countries face common threat (of terrorism) and there was considerable similarity in its nature, source, pattern and methodology which necessitated joint co-operation", an Indian diplomat in Tashkent said.

The Indian delegation led by R Dogra, joint secretary, Central Asia division of the Ministry of External Affairs had "frank and cordial discussions in the spirit of co-operation" with Uzbek Deputy Foreign Minister I Nematov and other officials, an Indian Embassy statement said.

The two-day meeting underscored the shared perception of the two sides on security and terrorism related issues, the statement said.

The Indo-Uzbek joint working group, which comprises experts from various agencies of the two countries including defence, identified specific areas of bilateral co-operation in combating terrorism including joint training, exchange of experts and expertise and swapping information.

This was the first such dialogue by Uzbekistan with any country on bilateral basis.

The two sides stressed that "international terrorism was a threat to peace and security and constitutes a challenge to the entire civilisation".

In an obvious reference to Pakistan, which is involved in cross-border terrorism against India and has been allegedly training Uzbek Islamic militants on its territory, New Delhi and Tashkent agreed that "states have a responsibility to refrain from providing any kind of support to acts of terrorism and prevent the use of their territory for sponsoring terrorist acts against other states".

PTI