9/11 anniversary: India, US renew joint resolve against terrorism

India's Ambassador to the US, Vinay Mohan Kwatra, on Friday paid tributes at the National 9/11 Memorial at the Pentagon as the United States marked the 25th anniversary of the terror attacks. In a message, he said India and the US would continue to combine their strength and resolve until terrorism is defeated.

Remembering those killed in the attacks, Kwatra said, "On this day, 25 years ago, terrorists attacked the United States. We remember the victims today, and we hold their families in our prayers." He said terrorism had taken countless innocent lives across the world.

Kwatra said those who carry out, support and sponsor terrorism stand against "everything good and decent in our shared humanity". "They stand against compassion, against dignity, against civilisation itself," he said.

He said India had long lived with cross-border terrorism and remained at the forefront of the fight against it. "Our policy is one of zero tolerance against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations," Kwatra said. He added that India came face-to-face with terrorism again last year, when 26 innocent civilians were killed at Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir by terrorists who were trained and sheltered across India's borders.

"India, and the United States, have stood together against this threat. We will keep combining our strengths and our resolve until terrorism is defeated," Kwatra said.

The US commemorated the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, when terror group al-Qaeda carried out three coordinated suicide attacks in New York and Washington in 2001. A fourth attack was foiled after passengers and crew fought the hijackers on board, and the aircraft crashed in an open field in Pennsylvania. Kwatra's tribute at the Pentagon memorial summed up India's message of remembrance for the victims and resolve in the fight against terrorism.