Kathmandu, October 14
Home Minister Sudan Gurung has proposed forming a joint task force in the BIMSTEC region to deal with the growing risk of disasters caused by climate change.
Speaking at the first BIMSTEC home ministers’ meeting, held in New Delhi, India, on Monday, he said a joint task force that can be mobilised from the mountains to the sea should be formed.
At the meeting, Gurung said the floods Nepal has experienced over the past two months in the Bhotekoshi, Manang-Mustang and Budhigandaki (Gorkha) areas show the need for regional cooperation in disaster management.
He stressed the need to develop a BIMSTEC regional disaster preparedness and response framework. He said coordination and cooperation among member states are necessary to deal effectively with disasters caused by climate change.
The meeting, held to increase coordination on security cooperation, transnational crime control and disaster management in the BIMSTEC region, issued the Delhi Declaration. The Ministry of Home Affairs said the declaration expresses a commitment to make regional security cooperation institutional and effective.
Addressing the meeting, Gurung identified terrorism, drug trafficking, human trafficking, money laundering, illicit financial flows and cybercrime as the main challenges to regional security.
He said effective information sharing, sharing of technology and experience, and a coordinated response among member states are necessary to control these crimes. He also stressed timely implementation of policies, plans and declarations on crime control.
This is the first home ministers’ meeting held 29 years after BIMSTEC was established. The Ministry of Home Affairs said Gurung, who attended the meeting, is the youngest among the home ministers of the BIMSTEC member states.
Meets counterpart Amit Shah, raises BIS certification issue
On the sidelines of the meeting, Home Minister Gurung also held talks with Indian Home Minister Amit Shah. The Ministry of Home Affairs said the two discussed increasing coordination and cooperation on shared security concerns of the two countries.
In the meeting, Gurung also drew attention to the technical problems Nepali industrialists and traders face in accessing the Indian market. In particular, he raised problems related to certification by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).
According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, he received a positive response from Indian Home Minister Shah on the matter.
Gurung expressed gratitude to the Government of India, Home Minister Shah and the BIMSTEC Secretariat for hosting the meeting.
Home Minister Gurung left for New Delhi on Monday to attend the first BIMSTEC home ministers’ meeting. He is scheduled to return home on October 14.
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