India-ASEAN officials hold meet on transnational crimes, combating terrorism in all forms

The ninth ASEAN-India Senior Officials Meeting on Transnational Crimes (SOMTC) was held in a virtual mode on July 20. During the meeting, the officials of India and ASEAN strongly condemned terrorism and called for the need to bolster international cooperation to tackle terrorism and transnational crimes. The ASEAN-India meeting on Transnational Crimes (SOMTC) was chaired by Mahaveer Singhvi, Joint Secretary (Counter Terrorism), Ministry of External Affairs and Puah Kok Keong, Deputy Secretary (Policy), Ministry of External Affairs, Singapore, from ASEAN side. 

During the meeting, the two sides "strongly" condemned terrorism and called for boosting international cooperation to combat terrorism and transnational crimes, according to the statement released by Ministry of External Affairs. Both sides discussed measures that need to be taken to ramp up cooperation in terrorism, illicit drug trafficking, trafficking in people and international economic crime and cyber crime. The officials of India and ASEAN discussed ways to enhance cooperation and other areas under the framework of the ASEAN-India Work Plan to tackle Transnational Crimes, Institutional linkages and capacity-building programmes. Notably, the 10th ASEAN-India SOMTC Consultation on Translational Crimes is due to be held in Indonesia in 2023. 

"Both sides strongly condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and emphasized the need to strengthen international cooperation to combat terrorism and transnational crimes in a comprehensive and sustained manner," the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement. 

Special ASEAN-India Foreign Ministers’ Meeting

Earlier in June, ​India hosted ASEAN Foreign Ministers and Secretary General for a Special ASEAN-India Foreign Ministers Meeting to mark 30 years of ASEAN-India Dialogue Relations, according to the statement released by Ministry of External Affairs. The meeting was attended by Foreign Ministers of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam. In addition, the representatives of Foreign Ministers from Lao PDR, Philippines, and Thailand along with the Secretary General of ASEAN participated in the meeting. During the meeting, the leaders discussed about COVID-19, health, Trade and Commerce, Education and Capacity building as well as the implementation of the ASEAN-India Joint Statement on Cooperation on the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP). The Foreign Ministers also discussed issues of regional and global development and post-pandemic economic recovery. 

Image: ANI/Representative