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Germany backs India on anti-terror convention

G Sudhakar Nair in Berlin

Sharing India's concern about cross-border terrorism, Germany has agreed to "fully support" New Delhi's initiative in framing a new comprehensive global convention to fight international terrorism.

The German support for the proposed convention was conveyed to the Indian delegation during the second round of Indo-German "strategic dialogue" which ended in Berlin on Friday evening.

Visiting Foreign Secretary Lalit Mansingh and his German counterpart, Wolfgang Ischinger, led the respective delegations at the one-day meeting, which also included disarmament officials.

Mansingh told reporters after the meeting that the strategic dialogue had helped Germany appreciate India's security concerns.

"The positions taken by India and Germany on disarmament issues may not coincide, but we have been able to make them appreciate our security concerns," he said.

Germany was told that the Indian government was trying to attain a national consensus on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and that it was seeking the support of the "full spectrum of national parties".

"It is nobody's fault that a discussion on CTBT [during the monsoon session of Parliament] could not take place," he said.

The Berlin meeting covered a range of bilateral, regional and international issues, including the situation in the subcontinent, nuclear disarmament, terrorism, Indo-German economic ties and United Nations reforms.

An Indian official said difficulties and delays faced by Indian businessmen in getting visas to visit Germany was raised at the meeting. "The German government has agreed to look into the matter," he said.

Calling for streamlining German visa procedures, the Indian side said the visa problem was one of the impediments in forging close Indo-German economic ties. "Unless you make it easier, how do we encourage Indo-German economic ties?" the official said.

The high-level Indo-German consultative group at its recent meeting in Germany had noted that "waiting periods of several months, caused by over-regulation and understaffing in the visa sections of Germany's embassy and consulates, are not conducive to closer economic co-operation."

The German side wanted intensification of co-operation in civil aviation and suggested increase of flight frequencies on the India-German route.

The Indian officials noted the quickening pace as well as increasing density of high-level contacts between India and Germany in recent months.

PTI

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