Fight common security threats together, Modi urges Bimstec members

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday urged member states of the Bimstec regional bloc to fight common security threats such as terrorism, extremism and radicalisation together.

He said this when the national security chiefs of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (Bimstec) nations called on him here. The Bimstec comprises Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal.

"PM called upon Bimstec member states to come together to counter common security threats such as terrorism, extremism, and radicalisation, and drugs, arms and human trafficking and natural disasters," the Prime Minister's Office tweeted.

"PM said Bimstec states should work to address non-traditional security threats, such as in domain of cyber security and in maritime domain," it said.

Earlier on Tuesday, in a bid to enhance cooperation in countering security challenges in the Bay of Bengal region, the national security chiefs of the Bimstec countries held their first meeting here.

With the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) regional group increasingly becoming ineffective mainly due to non-cooperation by Pakistan on several issues, India has been giving more importance to the Bimstec regional grouping in recent times.

Tuesday's meeting was in pursuance of the decisions taken at the Bimstec Leaders' Retreat held in Goa in October last year on the sidelines of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) Summit.

The meeting on Tuesday was chaired by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and was attended by Major General (Retd.) Tarique Ahmed Siddique, Defence and Security Advisor to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh; Sonam Topgay, Secretary in the Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs of Bhutan; Thaung Tun, National Security Advisor of Myanmar; Singha Bahadur Shrestha, Inspector General of Armed Police Force of Nepal; Brig. M.D.U.V Gunatilake, Director of Military Intelligence of Sri Lanka; Vera Urairat, Deputy Secretary General of the National Security Council of Thailand; and Sumith Nakandala, Secretary General of Bimstec.

According to the Prime Minister's Office, the national security chiefs appreciated Modi's vision for Bimstec.

"They thanked the PM for hosting the first ever meeting of the national security chiefs of the member states in India," it said in a separate tweet.

--IANS

ab/bg