Two-Day Meeting Of The BIMSTEC Expert Group On Cyber Security

Tags: International News

The National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS), Government of India, has hosted a two-day meeting of the Expert Group of BIMSTEC on Cyber Security on 14 and 15 July 2022 in New Delhi.

Important facts

• The meeting of the BIMSTEC Expert Group on Cyber Security Cooperation is based on the agreement reached during the BIMSTEC National Security Chiefs' Meeting held in Bangkok in March 2019.

• The meeting of the BIMSTEC Expert Group on Cyber Security in person was chaired by the Indian National Cyber Security Coordinator Lt Gen Rajesh Pant.

• Representatives of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand are participating in this meeting. All these representatives are cyber security experts of their respective government organisations.

• India, as a leading country in the security sector in the BIMSTEC Forum, has taken the initiative to organise this meeting on cyber security cooperation and to develop an action plan on cyber security.

BIMSTEC action plan to tackle cyber security challenges

• Main Objective- The main objective of this meeting of the BIMSTEC Expert Group is to prepare an action plan.

• It will promote coordination and cooperation among BIMSTEC member states to strengthen cyber security in the use of information and communication technology (ICT).

• Scope of Expansion - This action plan will cover the mechanisms for the following-

• cyber, exchange of information related to cyber crime,

• protection of critical information infrastructure,

• International developments related to cyber incident response and cyber standards.

• Implementation - The Action Plan is proposed to be implemented within a time frame of 5 years after which the Expert Group on Cyber Security will review the Action Plan.

About BIMSTEC countries 

• BIMSTEC was established in 1997 to provide an exclusive link between South and South-East Asia with five countries – Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka from South Asia and two countries in South-East Asia – Myanmar and Thailand.

• Areas of Cooperation -All these countries came together as a platform for cooperation in 14 major economic and social sectors of the economy.

• Headquarters- Kathmandu, Nepal.

• General Secretary- Tenzin Lekfell.

• BIMSTEC 2022 Summit- The 5th BIMSTEC summit was hosted in virtual form (in virtual mode) by the current BIMSTEC President Sri Lanka.

Theme of BIMSTEC 2022- The theme of the 5th BIMSTEC Summit is “Towards a Resilient Region, Prosperous Economies, Healthy People” .