Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday stressed the need for better coordination among the intelligence units of Asia and the Pacific region to tackle the security challenges.
“The security challenges that confront the mankind today can not be faced by any single country. The world will has to work in a unison to face the threat,” she said.
The PM made the remarks while inaugurating the 7th Asia-Pacific Intelligence Chiefs Conference (APICC) at Hotel Redison in the capital, where heads of 27 countries’ intelligence bodies took part and Director of Defence Intelligence Agencies (DIA) Douglas H Wise and Director General of Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) Major General Akbar Hossain also spoke on the occasion.
Hasina said the terrorists and extremists have been changing their tactics for their very existence. Whenever intelligences unearth some of their strategies and techniques, they switch to newer one.
“So, it is really a very tough mission,” she continued adding that: “These terrorist groups are posing a threat to the life and property of the ordinary people alongside the world peace.”
She continued that the Greatest Bangalee of all time and the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was a staunch believer of non-violent policy and that’s why soon after the independence, he adopted his foreign policy with the theme of ‘Friendship to all and malice to none’.
Reaffirming her government’s zero tolerance policy towards terrorism, Hasina said Bangladesh is an active partner of all international pacts, conventions and initiatives dealing with terrorism and militancy. “In line with, the country itself framed necessary laws and took measures to face terrorism.”
Underlining importance on action against terrorist financing, she said financing plays an important role in spreading militancy while Bangladesh Bank has taken effective steps to curb it.
In this regard, she also stated that Bangladesh in 2013 secured membership of Egmont group, a global body of 131 member nations to combat money laundering, financing of terrorism and other financial crimes, as well as the country became a member of the 41-member Asia Pacific Group on money laundering.
Pacific Command of the USA and Directorate General of Forces Intelligence of Bangladesh jointly organised the conference where Cabinet members, the PM’s advisers, chiefs of three services, ambassadors of different countries and participating defence intelligence chiefs of the Asia-Pacific region were present among others.
