Nothing like good or bad terrorism; Serbia backs India on fight against terror: Serbian FM

NEW DELHI: Serbian Foreign Minister Nikola Selakovic on Monday said there is nothing like good or bad terrorism and that his country supports India's position on the fight against terror.

Speaking on India-Serbia relations at the Indian Council of World Affairs, he said both countries were focused on taking their bilateral ties to a higher level.

His remarks come a day after he held wide-ranging deliberations with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar who said that during the talks they agreed to take forward the long-standing cooperation between the two countries, especially on the economic side.

Selakovic said he had excellent meetings in India that were focused on upgrading the bilateral relationship.

"We (Serbia) are also respecting and supporting your positions in the fight against terrorism in which we cannot say one terrorism is good and another terrorism is bad, no, terrorism is the same, it is bad and it is something we have to fight against," the Serbian foreign minister asserted.

He said India and Serbia share common goals and values and many of them are the ones around which the non-aligned countries had gathered.

Asked about the Afghanistan situation following the takeover by the Taliban and his country's views, Selakovic said his country was among the rare European nations that had not been present in Afghanistan with troops.

He, however, noted that some negotiations on the Afghanistan problem had been carried out in Belgrade earlier.

"Our position is principled that we are devoted to peaceful and diplomatic solutions to problems. Is it possible to have that here (Afghanistan), I am not quite sure," he said, adding that one of the best conversations he has had on Afghanistan was with Jaishankar.

Noting that there are hundreds of common interests and common goals between Serbia and India, Selakovic said that one of the aspects showing how friendly the two countries were was manifested in India's support to Serbia, especially in the political arena.

"In the republic of India, we are having a strong, friendly country," he asserted.

Selakovic also expressed his country's gratitude to the Indian government for the help given to his country during COVID-19.

He asserted that Serbia is preserving its position as a military-neutral country and is not willing to become a member of the NATO.