We Will Keep Combining Our Strengths: Kwatra On India, US Fight Against Terror

India and the United States will continue to combine their strength and resolve to defeat terrorism, Indian Ambassador to the US Vinay Mohan Kwatra said on Friday as America marked the 25th anniversary of 9/11.

Kwatra paid tribute to the victims at the National 9/11 Memorial at the Pentagon and remembered those killed in the September 11, 2001, attacks.

“On this day, 25 years ago, terrorists attacked the United States. We remember the victims today, and we hold their families in our prayers,” Kwatra said in a message.

He said terrorism has claimed countless innocent lives across the world and those who carry out, support or sponsor terrorism stand against “everything good and decent in our shared humanity”.

“They stand against compassion, against dignity, against civilisation itself,” Kwatra said.

Kwatra said India has long lived with cross border terrorism and has remained at the forefront of the fight against the threat. “Our policy is one of zero tolerance against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations,” he said.

The ambassador also referred to the Pahalgam terror attack of April 2025, when 26 civilians were killed in Jammu and Kashmir. He said the terrorists responsible 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 remarks came as the US held nationwide commemorations marking 25 years since the September 11 attacks. Al Qaeda carried out coordinated suicide attacks in New York and Washington in 2001. Two hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Center in New York, while another struck the Pentagon.

A fourth hijacked aircraft crashed into an open field in Pennsylvania after passengers and crew fought back against the hijackers. Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the attacks.

The anniversary saw victims’ families, US leaders and officials gather at memorial sites to honour those who died. Kwatra’s tribute at the Pentagon underscored India’s message of remembrance and its continuing joint resolve with the US against terrorism.