Bimstec leaders on Monday said that terrorism continues to be one of the most significant threats to the region's peace and stability in a joint statement, while also slamming attempts made in recent time to glorify terrorists, even as the threat of terrorism continued to dominate the discussions at the day-long summit which concluded late on Sunday.
The Bimstec leaders' Retreat 2016 Outcome Document, which was released to the media also seeks the need for greater co-operation between countries in the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation region as well as co-ordination with the BRICS countries, even as member countries of both blocs met at an outreach meet on Sunday.
“Recognising that terrorism continues to remain the single most significant threat to peace and stability in our region, we reiterate our strong commitment to combat terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, and stress that there can be no justification for acts of terror on any grounds whatsoever. We condemn in the strongest terms the recent barbaric terror attacks in the region,” the jointly signed Bimstec leaders' Retreat 2016 Outcome Document read.
The Bimstec members who signed the document were Bhutan Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay, India Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda', Sri lankan President Maithripala Sirisena and the Special Envoy of Thailand Prime Minister Virasakdi Futrukal.
“We strongly believe that our fight against terrorism should not only seek to disrupt and eliminate terrorists, terror organisations and networks, but should also identify, hold accountable and take strong measures against States who encourage, support and finance terrorism, provide sanctuary to terrorists and terror groups, and falsely extol their virtues. There should be no glorification of terrorists as martyrs. We recognise the need for urgent measures to counter and prevent the spread of terrorism, violent extremism and radicalisation,” the Outreach Document also said.
Both the BRICS as well as the Bimstec summits came to a close late on Sunday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the last two days also held a series of bilateral meetings with members of both the blocs, key among which were engagements with Russian president Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Brazilian president Michel Temer, Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina, among others.
Earlier on Monday, Modi lauded Bangladesh Prime Minister Shaikh Hasina for her clinical handling of terrorism, especially after the July 2016 attacks at the Holey Artisan bakery café in Dhaka, in which around 20 people were killed.
Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Vikas Swarup told reporters that Modi, during his bilateral meeting with the Bangaldesh Prime Minister late on Sunday, said that Sheikh Hasina had given other countries in the world a model template for comprehensively countering terrorism.
“He (Modi) commended Shaikh Hasina for the very strong action that she was taking to counter terrorism in Bangladesh. In fact, he said that 'your' battle against terrorism was yielding very positive results. You have shown us all a new template on how to fight terrorism so successfully,” Swarup said.
“Thereafter Shaikh Hasina gave a very detailed presentation on the various steps that the Bangladesh Government had taken in the wake of the Holey Artisan (Bakery cafe) terrorist attack. How she had contacted all the districts of Bangladesh, to get everybody on the same page to unite against terror. How she had also taken on board all the imams to raise their voice against terror. And she said that now public awareness is very high in Bangladesh against the menace of terrorism. The Prime Minister totally agreed with that and said that terrorism can only be contained with strong public support,” Swarup said.