Rajnath Singh meets Russian Min for emergency situations over joint urban earthquake search, rescue exercise

Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday met Russia's Minister for Emergency Situations Vladimir Puchkov on the sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting, over joint urban earthquake search and rescue exercise.

Rajnath Singh also signed the Protocol for Cooperation on Disaster Prevention issues among the SCO members.

During the meeting, Rajnath Singh said, "The search and rescue teams are engaged in a joint exercise, they not only build a common understanding of internationally recognized procedures to coordinate in emergencies, they also build personal acquaintances and friendships that come in handy when they have to respond together. India offers to host a joint exercise on urban earthquake search and rescue in 2019".

Singh also said that India is ready to host the next meeting of the SCO dealing with disaster prevention.

"If we are able to prevent and reduce the impact of disasters and emergencies, it will have huge global benefits as well. None of the global targets on reducing disasters losses - whether they are enshrined in the Sendai Framework or Sustainable Development Goals - can be met by 2030, unless they are achieved by the SCO countries. International cooperation in this area is therefore important for all of us," he said.

Home Minister further said the Indian government is making concerted efforts to reduce preventable deaths and other losses by analysing the patterns of disaster mortality and taking focused steps.

"India believes that cooperation on prevention of disasters and emergencies within the SCO framework will give added impetus to the domestic efforts. Also a meeting of technical experts can be organised to facilitate exchange of knowledge and experiences on earthquake-resistant building construction, model building codes and standard processes for ensuring compliance," he added.

Singh also said there was a need for cooperation in the area of early warning systems for extreme weather events.

"The SCO member states may have very different climate and weather systems but the underlying processes for forecasting adverse weather events, anticipating their impacts and issuing early warnings remain the same," he said.

Home Minister is on a two-day meeting at Choplon Ata in Kyrgyz Republic.

The meeting will focus on prevention and elimination of emergency situations. Home Minister Rajnath Singh is leading the Indian delegation which includes senior officers from Home and External Affairs Ministries and National Disaster Management Authority.

The meeting will consider and approve the draft action plan for 2018-2019 for the implementation of the agreement between the governments of the SCO member states on cooperation in providing assistance in the elimination of emergency situations.