NEW DELHI, May 1 (Xinhua) -- India and Turkey on Monday inked three pacts in which both sides condemned terrorism and vowed to work together to strengthen ties to effectively counter the menace.
The pledge came Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with visiting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
"#IndiaTurkey sign three agreements in the fields of ICT (information and communication technologies), training and culture," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted.
Addressing a joint media conference with the Turkish president, Modi said that he had an extensive conversation with Erdogan on the subject of terrorism.
"Nations of the world need to work as one to disrupt terrorist networks and their financing, and put a stop to cross-border movement of terrorists. We agreed that no intent, goal, reason or rationale can validate terrorism," Modi said.
On his part, the Turkish president condemned the recent terror attacks in India, saying that Ankara would always be in solidarity with New Delhi in battling terrorism. "Terrorists will be drowned in the blood they spill."
On trade, Modi said that the bilateral trade turnover of around 6 billion U.S. dollars is not commensurate with the size of the two economies and the business and industry on both sides can do much more.
"President and I are clear that strengths of our economies present an enormous opportunity to expand and deepen our commercial linkages. We need to approach the entire landscape of business opportunities in a strategic and long-term manner," the prime minister said.
Earlier in the day, the Turkish President, who arrived in India Sunday night on a two-day visit, was accorded a ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan by Indian President Pranab Mukherjee. He also met External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj who called on him and discussed bilateral issues.
