By IANS,
New Delhi : Indian Coast Guard and their Japanese counterparts will host eight heads of Asian coast guard agencies meet (HACGAM), an official statement said Tuesday. It will be held here Wednesday to discuss ways to combat piracy and step up maritime security.
According to the defence ministry, HACGAM is a forum that was developed initially in 2004 to discuss cooperation among the member organisations to combat piracy in the region. It has 17 countries as members.
“The scope of discussions has been expanded to include law enforcement, maritime security, disaster prevention and relief and capacity building. Presently, there are 21 organisations from 17 countries that are part of the initiative,” the ministry said.
The statement added that HACGAM is conducted every year and seven such meetings have been conducted till date.
The 17 countries include India, Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar and Pakistan.