The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which will be “instrumental” in jointly addressing the “pressing non-traditional security concerns” in the region and beyond.
BIMSTEC Secretary General Indra Mani Pandey and Regional Representative of UNODC Regional Office for South Asia Anubha Sood signed the MoU on behalf of their respective organizations during the 6th BIMSTEC Summit held in Bangkok, Thailand recently.
The signing of the MoU was welcomed by the BIMSTEC Leaders, marking a significant step in deepening inter-regional cooperation, said the BIMSTEC Secretariat on Sunday.
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The MoU formalizes the future partnership between UNODC and BIMSTEC in areas of shared interest, providing a framework of cooperation in facilitating collaboration to prevent and combat transnational organized crime, illicit drugs and terrorism in the Bay of Bengal region.
BIMSTEC comprises seven countries of the Bay of Bengal region: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
UNODC is the United Nations entity mandated with addressing the challenges of drugs, organized crime, corruption, and terrorism.
UNODC is present in around 150 countries, where we train practitioners in justice, health, law enforcement, and other fields.