Interior ministers from BIMSTEC nations gathered in New Delhi on Tuesday for the bloc's inaugural ministerial meeting on home affairs, agreeing upon a joint declaration endorsing coordinated action against shifting security threats across the region. Five agreements and action plans received formal approval at the gathering as part of a broader push to reinforce regional security architecture.
The joint declaration called for coordinated action against cross-border terrorism, terror financing, radicalisation, drug trafficking, human trafficking, cybercrime, and organised crime. The accompanying framework set out priorities around information exchange, mutual legal assistance, extradition, capacity development, and the operationalisation of existing agreements and plans of action, alongside particular attention to safeguarding victims of human trafficking drawn into online scam operations.
Delegates endorsed a convention designed to tighten cross-border collaboration on human trafficking, covering prevention, the establishment of criminal liability, and support pathways for those affected. Member states also reached agreement on a Plan of Action for Drug Control, directing it at the movement of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, and precursor chemicals across shared borders without authorisation.
A framework for joint capacity-building across BIMSTEC member states — targeting both money laundering and the financing of terrorism — received ministerial endorsement. Under the agreement, specialists are to receive training, established practices are to be shared between parties, and joint work spans areas including financial crime detection, intelligence gathering, investigative activity, asset recovery, measures against money laundering, and efforts to cut off funding for both terrorism and the proliferation of weapons.
Member nations gave their approval to a Plan of Action targeting illicit financial flows, with the framework designed to map out the origins, vulnerabilities, and pathways through which such money moves across borders. An action plan addressing disaster preparedness and inter-governmental coordination across the Bay of Bengal region also received collective ministerial endorsement. Under that plan, regional collaboration would span hazard assessments, joint drills, alert networks, disaster mapping, training facilities, data exchange, research programmes, technological development, and measures to reduce tsunami exposure.
According to a statement from the Ministry of Home Affairs, the joint declaration recognised the role played by India in advancing security cooperation across the region. The country also pledged continued institutional support and technical resources to fellow member states, including the sharing of expertise in areas such as police training, counter-terrorism operations, and forensic investigations.
Disaster management cooperation — including plans for a BIMSTEC Centre dedicated to that purpose in Jamnagar, Gujarat — featured among the priorities underscored at the meeting, according to the ministry. Home Minister Amit Shah subsequently held talks with his Nepali counterpart Sudhan Gurung.
According to a statement from Nepal's embassy in India, Home Minister Sudhan Gurung conveyed appreciation for the flood relief support extended by India after Kathmandu was affected by flash flooding in August. The exchange took place during a bilateral meeting between Gurung and Shah held on the margins of the inaugural BIMSTEC Home Ministers' Meeting in New Delhi. Talks between the two sides centred on deepening ties across several shared priorities — securing borders, tackling cross-border crime, and building stronger frameworks for responding to natural disasters.
Gurung conveyed gratitude toward India for the relief efforts deployed after flooding and landslides struck Nepal, while also calling for deeper practical collaboration built on sovereign equality, mutual respect, and trust for the benefit of both nations, according to the embassy statement.
Speaking at the inaugural BIMSTEC Home Ministers' Meeting, Shah outlined his country's position on the BIMSTEC Convention, stating that India would work toward its full and active implementation as a means of addressing transnational threats — including terrorism operating across borders, organised criminal networks, and the unlawful movement of narcotics. He noted that those networks are undergoing swift transformation. Organised groups with transnational reach tend to exploit gaps in local governance and enforcement capacity, and regional cooperation figures as a consistent priority within the work of the body.
Delegates from all seven nations belonging to the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation — known as BIMSTEC — gathered at the session, which formed part of a broader push to coordinate responses to security threats that cross national borders. The seven member states are Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka from South Asia, along with Myanmar and Thailand representing the grouping's Southeast Asian presence. Across both subregions, the organisation has built working ties spanning a range of fields.
The BIMSTEC bloc encompasses a population of roughly 1.7 billion — approximately one in five people on the planet — and an aggregate economic output in the vicinity of USD 5 trillion across its member states. Gathering for the first time under the BIMSTEC banner, home ministers from member states convened around a shared agenda of strengthening regional security frameworks and addressing threats that routinely cross national borders.
