Terrorists have no state or religion, say India, UAE

India and the United Arab Emirates on Friday strongly condemned state sponsors of terrorism and the use of terrorism as a state policy, according to a joint issued on Friday, the concluding day of the three-day visit to India of Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Commander of the UAE Armed Forces Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

The statement said that both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sheikh Mohamed ''strongly condemn extremism and terrorism in all of their forms and manifestations, irrespective of who the perpetrators were and of their motivations''.

''They reiterated that any justification for terrorism and any link between extremism or terrorism and religion should be strongly rejected by the international community,'' it stated.

''They reiterated their condemnation for efforts, including by states, to use religion to justify, support and sponsor terrorism against other countries, or to use terrorism as instrument of state policy.''

The statement also deplored efforts by countries to give religious and sectarian colour to political issues and pointed out the responsibility of all states to control the activities of the so-called ''non-state actors'', and to cut all support to terrorists operating and perpetrating terrorism from their territories against other states.

''The two sides deplored the use of double standards in addressing the menace of international terrorism and agreed to strengthen cooperation in combating terrorism both at the bilateral level and within the multilateral system,'' the statement said.

''In the context of the growing phenomenon of religious intolerance and radicalisation being witnessed worldwide, the two leaders commended each other on their efforts to build pluralistic societies based on universal values of humanity and peaceful co-existence among different faiths and communities.''

On the business and economic front, the Gulf nation expressed its interest in investing in infrastructure development in India, especially in priority areas such as railways, roads, ports, and shipping.

During the visit of Modi to the UAE in August last year, the first by an Indian prime minister in 34 years, the Gulf nation committed $75 billion in investments in India's infrastructure sector.