New Delhi, Sep 6: India and the US on Thursday held their first 2+2 dialogue during which the Trump administration reportedly assured New Delhi action agianst underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed. In the joint statement, the two countries called on Pakistan to ensure that the territory under its control is not used to launch terrorist attacks on other countries.

Following the 2+2 dialogue, a joint statement was released in which Dawood Ibrahim's D-Company and Hafiz Saeed-founded Lashkar-e-Taiba were mentioned. During the 2+2 dialogue, Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman met their US counterparts Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defence Secretary James Mattis.

"The Ministers welcomed the launch of a bilateral dialogue on designation of terrorists in 2017, which is strengthening cooperation and action against terrorist groups, including Al-Qaida, ISIS, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Hizb-ul Mujahideen, the Haqqani Network, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, D-Company, and their affiliates," the statement said.

"The Ministers denounced any use of terrorist proxies in the region and in this context, they called on Pakistan to ensure that the territory under its control is not used to launch terrorist attacks on other countries. On the eve of the 10-year anniversary of the 26/11 Mumbai attack, they called on Pakistan to bring to justice expeditiously the perpetrators of the Mumbai, Pathankot, Uri and other cross-border terrorist attacks," the statement added.

India and the US also discussed India’s bid for membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, the contentious H1B visa issue, and ways to deepen cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region. “We fully support India’s rise as a leading global power, and we welcome India’s equal commitment to our partnership,” Secretary Pompeo said at a joint media briefing with Swaraj, Mattis and Sitharaman.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 06, 2018 10:39 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).