Heads of Asian Coast Guard agencies to meet in Delhi on Oct 3

The October 3 meeting of the 8th Heads of Asian Coast Guard Agencies is being held for the first time in South Asia, Defence Ministry officials said here.

The HACGAM is an apex level forum facilitating congregation of all the major Coast Guard agencies of Asian.

The HACGAM was developed for enhancing cooperation among coastal security agencies to check piracy but its scope and mandate have been widened in recent years.

The scope of discussions has been expanded to include law enforcement, maritime security, disaster prevention and relief and capacity building, they said.

At present, more than 20 member organisations from 17 countries are part of the initiative.

Interestingly, the body was formed on a Japanese initiative after the capture of pirated vessel MV Alondra Rainbow by the Indian Navy and Coast Guard in November 1999.

The first HACGAM was conducted at Tokyo in Japan in June 2004.

The other countries which are part of the initiative include Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam and Hong Kong.

The HACGAM is conducted every year and seven such meetings have been conducted till date.