New Delhi, July 16 (IANS) National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval on Thursday stressed the need for BIMSTEC nations to collaborate, take decisive actions for mutual benefit, and find solutions through discussions, amid the conflicts and geopolitical uncertainties. Addressing the fifth BIMSTEC National Security Advisors' Meeting in New Delhi on Thursday, NSA Doval said, "We are meeting today in the backdrop of a challenging global landscape. We are witnessing conflicts and geopolitical uncertainties. We are also facing multi-domain security threats amplified by rapid technological advancement. Disruptions in global supply chains have also resulted in economic hardship for all our countries."

"In this setting, there is an urgent need for us to collaborate, take decisive actions for our mutual benefit, and find solutions through mutual discussions and deliberations to the best problems that we are all facing," he added.

NSA Doval noted that BIMSTEC brings together the most significant and vibrant regions of the Indian Ocean and represents a population of almost 22 per cent of the world population, with a combined GDP of nearly $5 trillion. He stated that BIMSTEC nations are united by the Bay of Bengal geographically and through "deep civilisational and cultural legacies" that have evolved over a millennium of shared history.

He said, "Building on these unique bonds, BIMSTEC has been anchored in robust cooperation across a range of sectors on the foundations of a great past. We strive to achieve a great future sharing prosperity and resilience for all our people. We have advanced and strengthened cooperation in fighting terrorism, combating transnational organised crime, cyber threats, meeting maritime challenges, and we are poised to combat new and emerging threats together."

"BIMSTEC's long-standing goals of regional security, connectivity, capacity building and economic security should continue to drive our collective efforts," he added.

He said that BIMSTEC represents India's vision of Neighbourhood First and its commitment to the Act East policy and the MAHASAGAR vision.

He stated, "As BIMSTEC celebrates its 30th anniversary next year, let us commit to further expand our collaborative potential and infuse new energy and resources towards ensuring national and regional security. We aim to build institutional capacity and cooperation across our priority sectors. I am certain that our vision and common aspirations, coupled with mutual trust, will continue to result in tangible outcomes."

The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a regional organisation that was established on June 6, 1997, with the signing of the Bangkok Declaration, according to the official statement. Initially known as BIST-EC (Bangladesh-India-Sri Lanka-Thailand Economic Cooperation), the organisation is now known as BIMSTEC and comprises seven Member States, with the admission of Myanmar on December 22, 1997, and Bhutan and Nepal in February 2004.

--IANS