New Delhi [India], June 20 (ANI): India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) strongly condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including cross-border terrorism, during the 13th ASEAN-India Senior Officials Meeting on Transnational Crimes (SOMTC).

According to a release issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday, the meeting, which was held in virtual mode on June 17, was co-chaired by Vinod Bahade, Joint Secretary (Counter Terrorism) in the MEA, from the Indian side, and Nestor B Sanares, Under Secretary for Peace and Order, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Philippines, representing the ASEAN side.

Both sides strongly condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and specifically denounced cross-border terrorism.

They also condemned the terrorist attack that took place on April 22, 2025, in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, which led to the death of 26 people, as well as the terror incident near the Red Fort in New Delhi on November 10, 2025.

The two sides also underscored the need to strengthen international cooperation to effectively combat terrorism and transnational crimes in a comprehensive and sustained manner.

'Both sides strongly condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including cross-border terrorism. They further condemned the heinous terrorist attack on 22 April 2025 in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, India and the terror incident on 10 November 2025 near the Red Fort, New Delhi. Both sides emphasised the need to strengthen international cooperation to combat terrorism and transnational crimes in a comprehensive and sustained manner,' the statement read.

During the consultation, India and ASEAN discussed enhancing cooperation in areas including terrorism, illicit drug trafficking, human trafficking, international economic crimes, and cybercrime under the ASEAN-India Work Plan on combating Transnational Crimes.

'During the Consultation, both sides discussed ways to enhance cooperation inter alia, in the areas of terrorism, illicit drug trafficking, human trafficking, international economic crime and cyber crime under the framework of ASEAN - India Work Plan to combat Transnational Crimes,' the statement added.

The MEA stated that institutional linkages and capacity-building programmes between both sides were also discussed to further strengthen collaboration.

The statement added that the 14th ASEAN-India SOMTC Consultation on Transnational Crimes will be held in Singapore in 2027. (ANI)