New Delhi, March 21 Evolving a robust and comprehensive strategy to tackle the ever-growing threat of terrorism and extremism, emerged as a key takeaway from the 14th meeting of the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus) Experts Working Group on Counter-Terrorism (EWG on CT), an official said on Friday.
The two-day meeting, which ended on Thursday, aimed to share the on-ground experience of the Defence forces of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries and its dialogue partners.
The meeting laid a foundation for the activities/exercises/meetings/ workshops planned for the current cycle, said an official.
Delegations from ASEAN Secretariat, ASEAN countries (Lao PDR, Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines and Vietnam), ADMM-Plus member states (China, USA, Russia, Australia, Japan and Republic of Korea) participated in the meeting.
During the meeting the co-chairs, India and Malaysia conveyed the 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, said a statement.
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.
The Defence Secretary said, "India remains steadfast in its zero-tolerance policy towards terrorism and believes in an approach that combines robust domestic mechanisms, enhanced Intelligence-sharing, and strong regional cooperation."
He emphasised that through the ADMM-Plus platform, India seeks to build synergy among the Defence forces, security agencies, and policy frameworks to address emerging threats effectively.
He stated that terrorism remains a dynamic and evolving challenge with threats increasingly transcending borders. He 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.
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