BIMSTEC Adopts the Delhi Declaration: First Home Ministers' Meeting Targets Terrorism, Terror Financing and Organised Crime
India hosted the first-ever BIMSTEC Home Ministers' Meeting in New Delhi on 13 October 2026. The member countries adopted a joint statement called the Delhi Declaration.
The Declaration condemns terrorism "in all its forms", including cross-border terrorism. It calls for action against terror financing (money that keeps terror groups running), terrorist recruitment and the misuse of new and emerging technologies (such as the internet, drones and online payment tools) for terror purposes.
It also asks members to properly implement UN Security Council sanctions, including those of the 1267 Sanctions Committee (the UN body that lists terrorists and freezes their money), and to follow international standards against money laundering and terror financing.
The meeting approved five initiatives: a BIMSTEC Convention against Trafficking in Persons; a Plan of Action on Drug Control; an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding, a written cooperation agreement) on capacity building against money laundering and terror financing; a Plan of Action on Illicit Financial Flows; and a Plan of Action on disaster preparedness in the Bay of Bengal region.
The Declaration calls the Bay of Bengal a "common security space" facing shared threats: drug trafficking, cybercrime, human trafficking (including victims forced to work in online scam centres), arms smuggling, piracy and illegal migration. It lists information sharing, mutual legal assistance and extradition as priorities.
Bangladesh was represented by a senior Home Ministry official instead of its Home Minister.
BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation)
BIMSTEC is a regional group of seven countries around the Bay of Bengal: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand. It links South Asia with Southeast Asia and works on trade, connectivity, energy, climate and security. Security cooperation, especially against terrorism and organised crime, has become one of its most active areas. For India, it is a key platform for both its "Neighbourhood First" and "Act East" policies.
The Delhi Declaration moves BIMSTEC's security track from officials' meetings to the level of Home Ministers, as planned at the 2018 Kathmandu Summit. It builds on the 2009 counter-terrorism convention and India's role as lead country for the security sector.
Financial Action Task Force (FATF): The Global Watchdog on Money Laundering and Terror Financing
The Financial Action Task Force, or FATF, is an international body that sets the global rules for stopping money laundering (making dirty money look clean) and terror financing (giving money to terrorists). It does not make laws and it cannot punish anyone directly. Instead, it writes a set of standards, checks how well each country follows them, and publicly names countries that are weak. Because banks and investors around the world pay close attention to these lists, being named by the FATF hurts a country's economy and reputation.
The Delhi Declaration asks BIMSTEC members to apply international standards against money laundering and terror financing, which means the FATF standards. The MoU on capacity building, covering financial intelligence, asset recovery and countering terror and proliferation financing, is meant to help smaller members meet these FATF rules.
UNSC 1267 Sanctions Committee: How the UN Lists Terrorists
The UNSC 1267 Sanctions Committee is a committee of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) that keeps a list of terrorists and terror groups linked to ISIL (also called ISIS or Da'esh) and Al-Qaida. Anyone on this list faces three punishments that every UN member country must apply: their money and property are frozen, they cannot travel across borders, and nobody may sell or give them weapons. When news says "the UN has declared someone a global terrorist", it usually means this committee has added that person to its list.
The BIMSTEC Delhi Declaration specifically calls on member countries to implement UN Security Council sanctions, including those of the 1267 Sanctions Committee. This means freezing the money and stopping the travel of listed terrorists across the Bay of Bengal region, so that listed groups cannot use neighbouring countries as safe havens.
- First BIMSTEC Home Ministers' Meeting: New Delhi, 13 October 2026; outcome document: Delhi Declaration
- 5 initiatives approved: Convention against Trafficking in Persons; Plan of Action on Drug Control; MoU on capacity building against money laundering and terror financing; Plan of Action on Illicit Financial Flows; Plan of Action on disaster preparedness in the Bay of Bengal region
- Proposed BIMSTEC Centre for disaster management: Jamnagar, Gujarat
- Home Ministers' meetings were decided at the 4th BIMSTEC Summit, Kathmandu (2018)
- BIMSTEC: 7 members; founded 6 June 1997 (Bangkok Declaration); Charter in force 20 May 2024; India leads the Security sector
- BIMSTEC counter-terrorism convention: signed 2009, in force 16 March 2021
- FATF black list (June 2026): North Korea, Iran, Myanmar; India in "regular follow-up" since June 2024
- UN 1267 Committee sanctions: asset freeze, travel ban, arms embargo