8th Heads of Asian Coast Guard Agencies meeting Scheduled to be held in New Delhi

The 8thHeads of Asian Coast Guard Agencies Meeting (HACGAM) will be held in October 2012 in New Delhi. This is the first time the HACGAM meeting is being held in south asian region.

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.

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. 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 two days Working Level Meeting (WLM) for the 8thHeads of Asian Coast Guard Agencies Meeting (HACGAM) concluded here today. The last meeting was held at Hanoi, Vietnam in October2011.

The HACGAM is conducted every year and seven such meetings have been conducted till date.