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Pool resources, expertise to strengthen disaster resilience: Shah at SCO meet
Union home minister Amit Shah said India attaches special importance to SCO in promoting dialogue on multi-dimensional political, security and economic subjects.
NEW DELHI: Union home minister Amit Shah on Thursday said that members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) can pool their resources and expertise to avoid duplication of efforts and strengthen the region’s overall disaster resilience approach as he advocated a “collective responsibility approach”.
He said India attaches special importance to SCO in promoting dialogue on multi-dimensional political, security and economic subjects.
The home minister was chairing a meeting of heads of departments of SCO member states responsible for the prevention and elimination of emergency situations in New Delhi.
“Adopting a collective responsibility approach for disaster resilience will help SCO member states to work together, more effectively. Along with this, by pooling our resources and expertise, member states can avoid duplication of efforts and resources, and this will strengthen the region’s overall disaster resilience approach,” Shah said.
He also listed five major areas in which SCO members can work: confidence-building efforts in Asia, collective responsibility approach, expanding cooperation in communication and information sharing, identification of priority areas, and use of newly developed technology in disaster resilience capacity building.
“SCO member states can expand their cooperation on emergency situations by exchanging best practices of communication, coordination of response efforts and real-time information exchange. Effective communication and information exchange can help ensure timely, specialised coordinated response to emergent situations,” he added, according to a statement issued by the ministry of home affairs (MHA).
The home minister further said that India’s priority as the chair of the SCO is to take forward the SECURE theme articulated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Qingdao Summit of the grouping in 2018. SECURE stands security, economic cooperation, connectivity, unity, respect for sovereignty and integrity, and environment protection.
“Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India attaches special importance to SCO in promoting dialogue on the subject relating to multi-dimensional political, security and economic subjects,” Shah said, according to the statement.
The home minister said India is especially focused on disaster risk reduction and is ready to share its expertise and experience in this field for greater cooperation and mutual trust among SCO member states.
He said India believes that no hazard is small or big and it does not leave anyone behind.
Shah said India now has more accurate and timely early warning system in place and the country has seen a sea change in the way its early warning systems (EWS) have improved, underlining that the forecast not only warns about the disaster but also predicts the potential impact it is likely to cause.
The home minister said there was a time when cyclonic storms in India used to cause huge loss of life and property, but India has made ‘community empowerment’ the basis of its efforts, due to which the damage caused by cyclones has been reduced, which is being appreciated by the whole world today.
The home minister said the Tsunami Early Warning System for the Indian Ocean Rim Countries established by the Indian National Centre for Oceanic Information Services (INCOIS) serves not just India but nearly two dozen other countries.
