New Delhi, Mar 21 (UNI) The 14th meeting of Defence Ministers’ and Experts Working Group on Counter-Terrorism of ASEAN countries on Friday focused on developing a robust and comprehensive strategy to deal with the evolving threat of terrorism and extremism.
Delegations from ASEAN Secretariat, ASEAN countries (Lao PDR, Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines and Vietnam), ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus) member states (China, USA, Russia, Australia, Japan and Republic of Korea) participated in the meeting, a Defence Ministry statement said.
The co-chairs, India and Malaysia conveyed work plan for the activities planned for the cycle 2024-2027. It announced the conduct of Table-Top Exercise for EWG on CT in Malaysia in 2026 and Field Training Exercise in India in 2027.
During the two-day meet, discussions were held to focus on evolving a robust and comprehensive strategy to tackle the evolving threat of terrorism and extremism. The meeting was aimed to share the on-ground experience of the defence forces of ASEAN countries and its dialogue partners. The meeting also laid a foundation for the activities, exercises, meetings and workshops planned for the current cycle.
Earlier, Myanmar and Russia, co-chairs for EWG on CT during the previous cycle for 2021-2024, handed over the co-chairmanship to India and Malaysia for the present cycle (2024-2027). India is hosting the maiden EWG meeting for the current cycle.
In the Inaugural session, Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh delivered the keynote address and interacted with participating head of delegations during the opening ceremony. He stated that terrorism remains a dynamic and evolving challenge with threats increasingly transcending borders.
Singh highlighted India’s efforts towards countering terrorism in the region, including adoption of Delhi Declaration during India’s chairmanship of Counter-Terrorism committee of the UNSC in 2022.
Joint Secretary [International Cooperation (IC)], Ministry of Defence Amitabh Prasad, Additional Director General (IC), Indian Army, senior officials from the Ministry of External Affairs and Indian Army’s Counter-Terrorism division participated in the event.
The heads of delegations of participating countries and ASEAN Secretariat also presented their views on adopting best practices for countering terrorism in the region. The delegates also visited Agra as part of the cultural tour.
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