No ifs or buts in dealing with terrorism: PM

Washington: Terrorism is an enemy of humanity and there can be "no ifs or buts" in dealing with the scourge, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said as he sought action against its state sponsors, in an oblique attack on Pakistan.

In his address to the joint meeting of the US Congress on Thursday, Prime Minister Modi said that more than two decades after 9/11 and over a decade after the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai, radicalism and terrorism still remain a pressing danger for the whole world. "These ideologies keep taking new identities and forms, but their intentions are the same."

"Terrorism is an enemy of humanity and there can be no ifs or buts in dealing with it. We must overcome all such forces sponsoring and exporting terror," Modi said in his 60-minute address in English. In the India-US joint statement released after the talks between Prime Minister Modi and US President Joe Biden, the two countries expressed their resolve to fight terrorism and extremism. "The United Statesand India stand together to counter global terrorism and unequivocally condemn terrorism and violent extremism in all its forms and manifestations," it said.

PM Modi and President Biden reiterated the call for concerted action against all UN-listed terrorist groups including al-Qaeda, ISIS/Daesh, Lashkar e-Tayyiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and Hizb-ul-Mujhahideen, the statement said. "They strongly condemned cross-border terrorism, the use of terrorist proxies and called on Pakistan to take immediate action to ensure that no territory under its control is used for launching terrorist attacks. They called for the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai and Pathankot attacks to be brought to justice," it said.