The two countries also shared concerns regarding the emergence of Af-Pak region as the epicentre of terrorism

India and Russia have decided to further align their positions at global fora and explore measures to counter terrorism including sharing of actionable information and pushing embargo terrorist groups holding or dominating territories including in Af-Pak region.

India and Russia decided at a recent high-level meeting in Moscow to coordinate their positions in the United Nations and other international fora with an aim to urge countries to refrain from double standards in dealing with terrorist groups. The two sides decided to intensify efforts to align their positions on counter-terrorism at the SCO, BRICS, ASEAN Regional Forum and the East Asia Summit, ET has learnt.

The two sides decided to jointly combat radical ideologies including spread of ideology through social media. They also discussed the utility of a Russian law against misuse of mobile phones for spreading radical ideology and network, a person privy to the deliberations told ET.

Named after Russian MP Irina Yarovaya, the Yarovaya package enjoins telecom operators store voice call and data records for a certain period of time to help in “fighting e-terrorism and preserving national cyber security”.

The issue of combating spread of Islamic State and other global terrorist groups including in the Af-Pak region figured prominently at the meeting held in Moscow. India and Russia decided to collaborate on combating terrorism at all levels. Last year the two sides had signed a comprehensive counter-terrorism pact during home minister Rajnath Singh’s Moscow trip.

At the recent meeting, the two sides shared views and assessment on the threats posed by the scourge of terrorism, including state-sponsored, cross-border terrorism faced by India. Earlier, at the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) plenary, Russia was one of sponsors of the move that finally put Pakistan in the so-called grey list of the international terror financing watchdog.

The two countries also shared concerns regarding the emergence of Af-Pak region as the epicentre of terrorism. In this context Russia shared its views on existing and future threats from Af-Pak region and consultations with regional players to secure information on terrorist groups. They exchanged notes on successful experiences in deradicalisation and decided to share best practices, according to the person cited earlier.