US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Wednesday. (Source: PMO) US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Wednesday. (Source: PMO)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded US’s South Asia policy during his meeting with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and said India shared common objectives of eradicating terrorism, terrorist infrastructure and safe havens while bringing peace and stability in Afghanistan.

The top official of the Donald Trump government arrived in New Delhi on Wednesday after visiting Iraq, Afghanistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. In his South Asia policy, Trump had warned Pakistan of consequences for providing safe havens to terrorists and sought an enhanced role for India to bring peace in Afghanistan.

During their meeting, Modi appreciated the firm upward trajectory in the India-US bilateral strategic partnership following his talks with President Trump in June. Tillerson discussed with Modi the steps required to further accelerate and strengthen the scope of their engagement.

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“They affirmed that a strengthened India-US partnership is not just of mutual benefit to both countries, but has significant positive impact on the prospects for regional and global stability and prosperity,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

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The former ExxonMobil chief and the PM also vowed to step up cooperation to combat terrorism in all forms and promote regional stability and security.

Earlier in the day, Tillerson and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj reiterated that Pakistan must stop being a safe haven to terrorist organisations if diplomatic relations between India and Pakistan were to continue. Tillerson said he had asked the Pakistani leadership to take action against terror groups and said an enhancement in their capabilities may pose a threat to the government in Islamabad.

“Terror havens will not be tolerated,” Tillerson said at a joint press conference here with Swaraj. Swaraj, on her part, said Pakistan must dismantle the terror infrastructure, insisting that any country backing terror groups must be held accountable.

A host of issues, including ways to further boost defence and security cooperation and ramp up trade ties, were discussed by Swaraj and Tillerson. The US Secretary of State said the Trump administration was ready to share its best technology for modernisation of India’s military, adding that it looked forward to discussing deals for F16 and F18 fighter jets with New Delhi.

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