Interior and home ministers of the eight-member SAARC grouping discussed ways to combat terrorism, piracy and trafficking in narcotics in their crucial meeting at a Maldivian resort on Wednesday.
Cyber crimes, trafficking of women and children in South Asia and mutual assistance in criminal matters were other issues discussed at the fifth meeting of the SAARC home/interior ministers, which was inaugurated by Maldives Vice President Mohamed Waheed Deen at Bandos Island Resort.
Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, who arrived here on Monday, represented India at the crucial meet. In his inaugural address, Deen said SAARC was embarking on highlighting one of the most important issues that faced all the nations of the world — its security. “Security today, internal and external, is most important, especially in the high seas. Security of each nation is extremely important for their independence and to remain as a sovereign state. Therefore this meeting of ministers of interior and home is very crucial at this moment, when the whole world is in turmoil,” he said.
He also drew attention of the delegates to the “serious threats” faced by Maldives like piracy, drug smuggling, human trafficking and terrorism and hoped that solutions would be found. Maldives had hosted the 17th SAARC summit in November last year. The home ministers’ meeting reviewed the progress in implementation of the decisions arrived at during their last meeting.
