Home Minister Gurung proposes regional disaster framework at BIMSTEC meeting, meets Amit Shah

Home Minister Sudhan Gurung has proposed developing a "BIMSTEC Regional Disaster Preparedness and Response Framework" at the first BIMSTEC Home Ministers' level meeting.

At the meeting held in New Delhi, India, he proposed forming a joint task force to tackle disaster risks heightened by climate change, the Home Ministry said. Gurung said cooperation was needed to control terrorism, drug trafficking, human trafficking and money laundering.

He also stressed secure information-sharing and joint response among member states to stop illicit financial flows and cybercrime. On the sidelines of the meeting, Gurung held bilateral talks with Indian Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday.

The Nepali Embassy in India said the talks covered security cooperation, border management, control of cross-border crime and disaster preparedness. Gurung raised concerns about technical issues such as BIS certification faced by Nepali industrialists and businesspeople in the Indian market, and the ministry said the Indian side responded positively.

Gurung thanked the Indian government for its timely assistance after the recent floods and landslides in Nepal, and stressed the need to expand practical cooperation between the two countries on the basis of sovereign equality and mutual respect. Home Minister Gurung had left for New Delhi on Monday.