Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s Statement at 7th SAARC Meet

The Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh visit to Islamabad to attend the SAARC Home Ministers’ Summit. Rajnath Singh addressed at the 7th Meeting of SAARC Ministers of Interior/Home, in Islamabad, Pakistan.

In his address, the Home Minister said, “Our vision for the region, as outlined by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modiji at the Eighteenth Summit, rests on the pillars of trade, investments, wide-ranging development cooperation, contacts between our people – and, all through seamless connectivity. We have accordingly carried forward the initiatives announced by Prime Minister. I am also happy to note that we have implemented the India business card scheme, which would facilitate eligible business leaders in their visits to India”.

I am happy that all SAARC members have supported our proposal to hold the second Meeting of the High Level Group of Eminent Experts to Strengthen the SAARC Anti-Terrorism Mechanism from 22-23 September 2016 in New Delhi. I thank all of you for this and hope that the meeting will achieve its objectives.

“Trafficking of drugs and its abuse is a grave challenge which has an immeasurable adverse impact. It is a problem which is connected with all types of organized crime. Today, drug business generates the highest illegal fund flows. Trafficking of drugs, coupled with the problem of increasing circulation of fake currency, feeds into supporting terrorism and can create economic de-stabilization in our region. Towards implementation of the Regional Convention on Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, we have offered our full support and cooperation by way of capacity building and training programmes. There is also a felt need to achieve the full potential of the SAARC Terrorist Offences Monitoring Desk and the SAARC Drug Offences Monitoring Desk”, Rajnath Singh said.

Further he added that, “In India, we have taken a number of new initiatives such as the ‘Track Child’ national portal and ‘Operation Smile’ to rescue children. We shared our experience at the Ministerial Meeting of the South Asia Initiative to End Violence Against Children, which we were privileged to host recently. Our Prime Minister had launched the flagship ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ programme. It has rapidly expanded and has started contributing to ensuring the survival, protection, education and empowerment of the girl child”.