BIMSTEC adopts convention to combat terrorism, insurgency

Sagar Kulkarni
Nay Pyi Taw, Dec 11 (PTI) The seven-nation Bay of
Bengal Initiative for Multi-sectoral Technical and Economic
Cooperation (BIMSTEC) grouping Friday adopted a convention to
combat terrorism and insurgency, a step that is expected to
add teeth to India's action against militancy, particularly in
its north east.
Foreign Ministers of India, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sri
Lanka, Bhutan, Thailand and Nepal signed the Convention on
Cooperation in Combating International Terrorism,
Trans-National Organised Crime and Illicit Drug Trafficking at
the 12th BIMSTEC Ministerial meeting here.
The ministers also agreed to include climate change as
a key area of cooperation for the BIMSTEC countries.
Inaugurating the ministerial meet, Myanmar Prime
Minister Thein Sein stressed on cooperation in combating
terrorism and trans-national organised crime.
"As you heard the Prime Minister of Myanmar in his
inaugural address did stress on terrorism. I think terrorism
has become a hot issue for discussion. There is unanimity
about recognising the fact that terror has become one of the
major irritants, one of the major obstacles for development
and growth," External Affairs Minister of India S M Krishna
told reporters here.
The signing of the convention coincides with India
stepping up action against its north east insurgents,
particularly the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA). There
were reports that ULFA leader Paresh Barua was recently
present in the Kachin region of Myanmar bordering China.
Krishna said groupings like BIMSTEC provide leaders an
ideal background to exchange notes and to further resolve that
terror has to be dealt with squarely and decisively.
"Insurgents find safe havens in other countries. All
the countries must be conscious of the fact that we must not
allow insurgents to operate from our territory because it
would be harmful for the entire neighbourhood. We hope that
sufficient care would be taken about it," Krishna said.
He said the Convention would provide a legal framework
for enforcement agencies of the member nations to cooperate in
combating the scourge of terrorism, organised crime and drug
trafficking.
"The Convention would send a strong message to the
perpetrators of such crimes that the BIMSTEC region can no
longer be used as a safe haven and the governments and the
people of the region are united in their response to the
threat posed by terrorism, organised crime and drug
trafficking," he said in his address to the plenary.
Besides Krishna, the ministerial meeting was attended
by Bangladesh Foreign Ministers Dipu Moni, Lyonpo Ugyen
Tshering of Bhutan, U Nyan Win of Myanmar, Sujata Koirala of
Nepal, Rohitha Bogollagama of Sri Lanka and Kasit Piromaya of
Thailand.
As the meeting got underway, Krishna handed over the
Chairmanship of BIMSTEC to his Myanmar counterpart U Nyan Win.
"You will always get unfailing support from India to
support the consolidation of BIMSTEC," Krishna said.
The Senior Officials Meeting, which concluded
Thursday, also finalised two Memoranda of Association for
establishment of the BIMSTEC Energy Centre and the BIMSTEC
Centre for Weather and Climate.
The also agreed on signing the Memorandum of
Understanding on establishment of the BIMSTEC Cultural
Industries Commission and the BIMSTEC Cultural Industries
Observatory.
"We encouraged the member states to sign the remaining
three documents at the earliest," a joint statement adopted at
the end of the meeting said.
The foreign ministers welcomed the finalisation of the
agreement on trade in goods and asked the negotiators to reach
an understanding on the annexes at the earliest.
The ministers took note of the ongoing talks on the
Agreements on Services and Investment under BIMSTEC FTA, and
urged the member states to conclude them as soon as possible.
Climate change has emerged as the new area of
cooperation among the BIMSTEC member nations and the leaders.
"We are confident that the inclusion of this new area
of cooperation will contribute significantly to the joint
efforts on the mitigation and adaptation to climate change in
the BIMSTEC region," the joint statement said.
The ministers also agreed to enhance cooperation in
the areas of transport and communication, tourism, energy,
technology fisheries, poverty alleviation, agriculture,
environment and disaster management and public health.
A BIMSTEC meeting on the Network of National Centres
of Coordination in Traditional Medicine is scheduled to be
held in Thailand next year. PTI SKU
ANU