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| Wednesday, 15 December 2004 |
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by Manjula Fernando BIMST-EC countries at a recently concluded working group meeting in India vowed for enhanced cooperation to combat terrorism and transnational crime, a growing concern within the region and the world, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said. Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand, the member states of BIMST-EC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) at this meeting agreed to share information and intelligence and share individual experiences among themselves, to take effective measures to fight cross border crime and terrorism. "In the recent years, the BIMST-EC has witnessed a growth in terrorist activities. Terrorist groups gather strength from networking, taking advantage of porous borders to operate across the countries," the meeting was told. Recognising that action by individuals is insufficient to deal with the problem, the countries pledged to take joint action to introduce effective border controls and make necessary legal adjustments within national jurisdictions to combat crime and ensure obligations in the UNSCR and other UN resolutions are met, the spokesperson said. The countries also proposed to establish financial intelligence units to counter financing of terrorism by formal or informal channels such as through NGOs or other money laundering schemes while denying sanctuary and transit facilities against those involved in or associated with terrorist activities and transnational crime. Measures to prevent the illicit trade and trafficking in arms, ammunition, explosives and other dangerous material used for terrorist activities by land, sea or air were also discussed. The countries consented to stop propaganda and dissemination of information by terrorist groups within their countries while enhancing cooperation at both policy and operational levels to counter all forms of terrorism and transnational crime including human trafficking and illegal immigrants trade. For expeditious implementation, the meeting decided to set up sub-groups on different subjects, Intelligence Sharing, Law and Legal enforcement issues, Financing of Terrorism, Illicit Trafficking of Narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursor chemicals. The groups will meet once a year A delegation led by Director General Foreign Ministry Prasad Kariyawasam represented Sri Lanka in this meeting. The delegates called on External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh and National Security Advisor J.N. Dixit during their stay in Delhi. |
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