NEW DELHI: In a first, the representatives of BIMSTEC nations came together to discuss maritime security and ways to increase cooperation. Cooperation is the key in the security domain of special salience under BIMSTEC, an official of the Ministry of External Affairs said on Wednesday.
Speaking at the first coastal security workshop of BIMSTEC nations, Vijay Singh Thakur, Secretary (East) in MEA said, “While providing unhindered sea lanes of communications and economic integration of the region, we have to be mindful about security challenges both at sea and to our coastlines.”
“As we are providing and looking for unhindered sea lanes of communication and economic integration of the region, we have to be mindful of the security,” Thakur said.
The workshop, being held from November 20-22, is organised by Information Fusion Centre – Indian Ocean Region under the Indian Navy, on issues related to security, non-traditional threats in the region and other challenges in the maritime domain.
The workshop provided the delegates with a platform to share their views and practices to learn from each other. The thematic sessions conducted during the workshop were maritime and coastal security, challenges in fisheries management, port and shipping security, nontraditional threats to maritime security, challenges in tracking Sub-20m boats and technical requirements for setting-up Coastal Surveillance Radar System. It also included a visit to the IFC-IOR at Gurugram.
IFCIOR is intended to be a collaborative effort with partner nations for making the seas, which are the global commons, safe and secure for all.