India will host the first ever meeting of BIMSTEC National Security Chiefs to discuss a joint action plan to combat the spread of terrorism, violent extremism and radicalisation. India would also be hosting an international conference on countering radicalisation.
The decision to fast-track an action plan on terrorism and radicalization was taken during the 17th The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) held in Kathmandu on Tuesday. The grouping, sources said, attaches a high priority to combat terrorism and trans-national crime. Indian officials said this marked an important step forward to realize the action-oriented agenda for BIMSTEC agreed by the leaders at their Retreat hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Goa in October 2016.
India, as the lead Country in the areas of Counter Terrorism and Trans-national Crime, Environment, Transport and Tourism sectors, offered several important initiatives in these areas, Ministry of External Affairs officials said.
India’s bid to boost regional connectivity got a fillip after SOMs asked India to organisze a meeting of the Working Group to finalize the BIMSTEC Motor Vehicles Agreement. An MOU on Grid Interconnection has also been finalized to facilitate electricity trade in the region. The Trade Negotiating Committee will shortly take up trade and trade facilitation matters. Given the region's vulnerability to natural calamities, India will also organize the first annual disaster management exercise.
A Task Force on Traditional Medicine has been created that would meet in India to work on strengthening the role of traditional medicine for holistic health care. A network of BIMSTEC tour operators would be organized in India to boost tourism through measures such as composite tour packages. The SOM also discussed progress in several other key BIMSTEC initiatives in trade and investment, energy, technology, fisheries, climate change, culture, people-to-people contacts and other sectors.
The progress of these decisions will be reviewed in the Meeting of Foreign Ministers to be hosted by Chair Nepal in June later this year. This meeting would also make preparations for the BIMSTEC Summit to be hosted later this year.