Colombo
Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday said that the BIMSTEC member states must collectively combat terrorism and violent extremism as he emphasized India’s commitment to intensify, expand areas of cooperation, especially connectivity, energy and maritime.
“Participated at the 18th BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting in Colombo today. Thank FM Prof. GL Peiris for his hospitality. Emphasized our commitment to intensify and expand areas of cooperation, especially connectivity, energy and maritime cooperation,” EAM Jaishankar tweeted.
Speaking at the 18th BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting in Colombo, Jaishankar said that much of what grouping can achieve in our national development efforts is, of course, predicated on a peaceful, secure and stable environment.
“We cannot ignore the challenges that terrorism and violent extremism, as also transnational crime and narco-trafficking or indeed new challenges such as cyber-attacks, pose to all of us,” EAM said in a statement.
“All of these affect our economic development efforts. We need to put in place the remaining elements of the legal architecture that will enable our law enforcement agencies to collaborate more closely and more effectively,” he added.
The Bay of Bengal achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14 targets and ensuring a “good order at sea” in keeping with international maritime law, particularly UNCLOS is a priority.
He also said that a practical way to proceed is to have discussions using existing dialogue mechanisms, even while we put in place a plan of action in the maritime domain which is consistent with our national priorities.
Asserting that the international system is going through a very challenging phase, perhaps one of the most difficult in recent memory. “The challenges of COVID-19 pandemic have not yet fully abated. But recent developments in Ukraine have added to international disquiet,” he said in the statement.
