India and Morocco Strengthen Counter-Terrorism Cooperation at New Delhi JWG Meeting

India and Morocco have reaffirmed their shared commitment to fighting terrorism, with the second meeting of the India-Morocco Joint Working Group on Counter Terrorism held in New Delhi on 22 June 2026. The meeting was co-chaired by Dr. Vinod Bahade, Joint Secretary for Counter Terrorism in India’s Ministry of External Affairs, and Hicham Baali, Head of the National Judicial Police Brigade at Morocco’s Directorate General of National Police.

The talks focused on strengthening bilateral counter-terrorism cooperation at a time when extremist networks, cross-border terror structures, terror financing, radicalisation and technology-enabled threats have become major security concerns for countries across regions. Both sides strongly condemned terrorism in all its forms, including cross-border terrorism, and specifically denounced the terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, on 22 April 2025, as well as the terror incident near Delhi’s Red Fort on 10 November 2025.

A major part of the dialogue centred on practical cooperation. India and Morocco discussed stronger information sharing, capacity building, exchange of best practices and closer coordination between their counter-terrorism institutions. These areas are significant because modern terrorism works through transnational networks, encrypted communications, illicit financial channels, online propaganda and organised criminal linkages.

The two countries also exchanged views on current and emerging counter-terrorism challenges, including violent extremism, radicalisation, terrorist financing, the use of technology for terrorist purposes, the link between transnational organised crime and terrorism, and the global movement of terrorists. This gives the partnership a broader security dimension, moving it beyond routine diplomatic consultations into operationally relevant areas.

The meeting also highlighted the multilateral dimension of India-Morocco cooperation. Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to work together in global forums such as the United Nations, the Financial Action Task Force and the Global Counterterrorism Forum. This is important for India’s wider diplomatic effort to build international consensus against terrorism, terror financing and safe havens.

Morocco is an important North African partner with experience in counter-radicalisation, policing and security coordination. For India, closer engagement with Morocco adds depth to its counter-terrorism outreach across Africa, West Asia and the wider Mediterranean region. For Morocco, cooperation with India opens a channel with a major Asian power that has long experience in dealing with cross-border terrorism, extremist networks and security threats linked to regional instability.

The decision to hold the next Joint Working Group meeting in Morocco shows that both sides intend to keep the mechanism active and results-oriented. The New Delhi meeting therefore marks another step in building a structured India-Morocco security partnership based on intelligence cooperation, institutional dialogue, capacity building and shared diplomatic action against terrorism.