WORKING LEVEL MEETING OF 8TH HEADS OF ASIAN COAST GUARD AGENCIES MEETING-NEW DELHI
The first ever Heads of Asian Coast Guard
Agencies Meeting (HACGAM) in South Asia is scheduled to be conducted in October
2012 in New Delhi. HACGAM is an apex
level forum facilitating congregation of all the major Coast Guard Agencies of
Asian region. This initiative was
developed initially in 2004 to discuss cooperation among the member
organizations to combat piracy in the region.
However, the scope of discussions has been expanded to include law
enforcement, maritime security, disaster prevention and relief and capacity
building. Presently, there are more than
20 member organizations from 17 countries that are part of the initiative.
Development of HACGAM
The process of cooperation amongst the Asian
Coast Guard Agencies was initiated by Japan consequent to the capture of the
pirated vessel M.V. Alondra Rainbow by the Indian Navy and Coast Guard in
November 1999. Subsequently, a series of
Regional Senior Experts Meetings of Coast Guard Agencies of Asia were held on
combating piracy and armed robbery against ships. The 4th such meeting held in
Pattaya, Thailand in Feb 2004 recommended conducting the meeting of the Heads
of Coast Guard Agencies in Jun 2004.
Accordingly, the first HACGAM was conducted at Tokyo, Japan in Jun 2004.
At present, the initiative consists of 17 countries and one region. These include Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia,
China, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan,
Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam and Hong Kong. Further, it was also agreed that the scope of
discussions may not be restricted only to piracy issues, but may also include
all Coast Guard related issues.
The HACGAM is conducted every year and seven
such meetings have been conducted till date. The last meeting was held at
Hanoi, Vietnam in Oct 11.
8th HACGAM in New
Delhi
The 8th HACGAM is the first
meeting being held in South Asian region and is being co-hosted by Indian Coast
Guard and Japan Coast Guard under the auspices of Nippon Foundation,
Japan. The Working Level Meeting (WLM)
is being conducted from 18 to 19 Jul 2012 to discuss the agenda and prepare the
documents for the 8th HACGAM scheduled to be conducted from 01 to 04
Oct 12 at New Delhi. The Nippon
Foundation had also hosted “Conference on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery
against Ships” and HACGAM until 2008.
Since 2009, the Foundation has been co-sponsoring HACGAM.
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