LAMABAD – The eighth meeting of the Russia-Pakistan Joint Working Group onCounter-terrorism held in Moscow and discussed wide-ranging issuespertaining to counter-terrorism and reviewed the global and regionalterrorism threats.

Ahmad Farooq, Director General Counter Terrorism, Ministry of ForeignAffairs led the Pakistan delegation while the Russian side was representedby Vladimir Tarabrin, Head of the Department of New Challenges and Threats,Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, in the meeting heldon November 12.

The Russian side recognized Pakistan’s sacrifices and commended Pakistan’sachievements in the fight against terrorism, a Foreign Office statementsaid issued here.

The Pakistani delegation highlighted Pakistan’s efforts in counteringextremism, terrorism and terror financing and highlighted progress made inthese respective areas.The Russian side also apprised the Pakistani delegation about variouscounter-terrorism efforts being taken in Russia.

Both sides expressed grave concern on the threat posed by Daesh, especiallythe danger of returning Foreign Terrorist Fighters (FTFs) from the conflictzones in the Middle East.

They underscored the importance of dealing with the FTFs threat inaccordance with the national laws and resolutions of the UN SecurityCouncil.

The two sides expressed satisfaction over the ongoing bilateral cooperationas well as cooperation at multilateral forums including at the UnitedNations and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Regional Anti-TerrorismStructure (SCO-RATS) and agreed to enhance bilateral cooperation at theseand other multilateral forums.

Both sides agreed that terrorism was a global phenomenon and itseradication requires coherent efforts from the international community.

It was agreed to hold the next meeting of the Joint Working Group inIslamabad.