Dhaka: The chiefs of police and other law enforcement agencies of South Asia and neighbouring countries sat here in a meeting on Sunday, aiming to work out a regional strategy to combat militancy, extremism and other types of transnational crimes.

Bangladesh police in collaboration with Interpol is hosting the three-day conference being attended by representatives from 15 countries, including hosts Bangladesh.

The 14 other countries are Afghanistan, Australia, Bhutan, Brunei, China, India, Indonesia, the Maldives, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.

Besides, high officials of Interpol, Facebook, American IGCI and FBI, and ASEANPOL and International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program (ICITAP) are also participating in the conference.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan formally opened the conference as the chief guest at c city hotel in the morning.

Addressing the opening session, the Home Minister said a collective approach is a must to face terrorism and militancy as the conference will have a huge impact on regional and global security.

“Through this conference, we pledge to make active efforts to fight terrorism and transnational crimes together. It gives a sense of unity and responsibility towards fulfilling further commitments,” he said adding, “Our responsibility is not only to ensure the security of our own country but also of the neigbouring countries.”

In his welcome address, Inspector General of Police (IGP) AKM Shahidul Hoque said terrorism, violent extremism and other crimes are no longer confined to a specific territory.

“Networks of violent extremism, militancy and crime dynamics have spread over most of the countries of the globe. It’s difficult for an individual nation to address the threats posed by terrorists on its own,” he said.

“Keeping in view the prevailing scenario, we attach special focus on regional cooperation which, we believe, will pave the way for global cooperation as well,” the IGP said.

The chief of Bangladesh police said,” In fact, we need to go beyond the traditional approach and introduce ‘one-to-one’ communication channel among us to ensure real time information sharing and strengthen our fields of cooperation to a new heights.”

Secretary General of INTERPOL Jürgen Stock, Public Security Division secretary of Home Ministry Dr. Kamal Uddin Ahmed and Additional IGP (Admin) of Police headquarters Mukhlesur Rahman also spoke at the opening session of the conference.