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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today made a strong pitch for a "collective vision" among South and East Asian countries to effectively deal with security challenges emanating from international terrorism, transnational crime and drug trafficking to bring about peace, stability and development in Asia as a whole.
Arriving here on a two-day visit for the the Summit of the seven-nation grouping Bay Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), he also stressed that connectivity and sub-regional cooperation needed to be intensified in trade and investment, energy, climate, tourism, agriculture and other areas to provide the "spark for the growth engine in our region".
In a departure statement in Delhi, he said the need for regional approaches to deal with international terrorism, transnational crime, drug trafficking and mutual legal assistance in criminal matters is "more salient" in today's integrated world than ever before.
"Security challenges, both natural and man-made, require our collective vision and determination," he said.
Since this could perhaps be Singh's last foreign visit during his current tenure, he is likely to utilise the occasion to renew contacts with leaders from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal.
The issue of insurgent groups operating from Myanmar, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan and apprehensions that they may create trouble in the run-up to the upcoming Lok Sabha polls may figure during talks Singh will have with leaders from these countries on the sidelines of the BIMSTEC Summit tomorrow.
BIMSTEC is an expression of India's Look East Policy of the 1990s, coinciding with Thailand's Look West Policy.
The seven members - India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, Bhutan and Nepal - bring together over 20 % of the world population, which is about 1.5 billion, and a GDP of over $ 2.5 trillion.
