Amid the anti-Pakistan rants by Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah in Bihar, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is all set to welcome a 10-member delegation from Pakistan to attend a simulation exercise on disaster management in India. India will also be bearing the expenditure of all delegates, including their airfare and accommodation.
Brainchild of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the MHA and the Ministry of External Affairs are leaving no stone unturned to make the event a success.
After the cancellation of National Security Adviser-level talks in August this year, this is the second big event involving Pakistan, the first being the Director-General-level talks between the BSF and the Pakistan Rangers in September.
ADVERTISEMENT
Post-Nepal earthquake, India took the lead to begin the process of Simulation Exercises on Disaster Management in the region, coined as ‘South Asian Annual Disaster Management Exercise’ (SAADMEx). India requested the participation of all South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries for augmenting current levels of individual and joint preparedness for rescue, relief and response efforts during disaster situations. The exercise will be held from November 23-26.
The April earthquake also affected many parts of India and Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif called up Mr. Modi to express condolences then. It was during this brief conversation that Mr. Modi suggested that SAARC countries conduct regular joint exercises on disaster relief and rescue.
ADVERTISEMENT
Besides Pakistan, other SAARC members Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Maldives and Bhutan have confirmed their attendance. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is the nodal agency for the exercise.
“There will be two kinds of simulation exercise, one for earthquake and another for chemical emergency. The physical demonstration will be done at Greater Noida [chemical] and Ghaziabad [earthquake]. We have received nominations from Pakistan as well as other SAARC members,” said O.P Singh, DG, NDRF.
The main focus of ‘SAADMEx – 2015’ will be to test inter-governmental coordination efforts, create synergy and synchronise efforts to institutionalise regional cooperation on disaster response among the member-countries.
“Since India has taken the lead in the exercise, we have decided to bear the entire expense of the exercise. Not only this, we would also take care of the travel expenses of the delegates of member-countries. Their accommodation here and other logistics would also be arranged by India,” said a senior Home Ministry official.