BIMSTEC nations looking to enhance security cooperation: India

Security cooperation is an important element of the BIMSTEC and the member countries are looking at enhancing partnership in this sphere, a top official of the Ministry of External Affairs said on Wednesday.

Speaking at its first coastal security workshop, Vijay Singh Thakur, Secretary (East) in the MEA said India attaches great importance to the grouping of South and Southeast Asian nations and it is a part of its neighbourhood first policy.

"As we are providing and looking for unhindered sea lanes of communication and economic integration of the region, we have to be mindful of the security at sea," Thakur said.

Highlighting threats like human trafficking, narcotics, exploitation of natural resources, piracy, sea-based terrorism, Thakur said cooperation in the security domain will have a special significance and importance for Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) members states.

"We have been looking at security issues clearly under the BIMSTEC umbrella," she said.

Thakur said in the last three years, the BIMSTEC countries have developed very close security cooperation and this should further deepen and diversify.

She said the National Security Advisors and chiefs of BIMSTEC countries have met thrice since 2017, which underscores the security cooperation among the member states.

"Under BIMSTEC, we also have another framework in which we do talk about security issues and that is the joint working group on counterterrorism and transnational crimes. That itself is an area where there is an exchange of views on combating issues related to terrorism whether it is financing or cross-border support, all those issues are looked at this joint working group on counter-terrorism," she added.

Thakur said issues like countering radicalism is also being looked into.