Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday underscored the grave threat terrorism posed to global peace and security and emphasised the need for collective efforts to combat this menace.

Addressing the world leaders at the 19th East Asia Summit, the PM said that forces believing in humanity will have to work together to counter the terrorism. He highlighted the importance of bolstering cooperation in areas such as cyber, maritime, and space to strengthen global security.

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“Terrorism is also a serious challenge to global peace and security. To face it, forces believing in humanity will have to work together. And, mutual cooperation in the areas of cyber, maritime and space will also have to be strengthened,” the Prime Minister stated.

Referring to the ongoing conflicts in different parts of the world, Modi said countries of the Global South have been negatively impacted by this.

Modi remarked, “Everyone wants that whether it is Eurasia or West Asia, peace and stability should be restored as soon as possible. I come from the land of Buddha, and I have repeatedly said that this is not the era of war. Solutions to problems cannot come from the battlefield. It is necessary to respect sovereignty, territorial integrity and international laws.”

The PM suggested prioritising a “humanitarian approach” to global conflicts, stressing dialogue and added that diplomacy must be a way forward to resolve these disputes.

“Keeping a humanitarian approach, dialogue and diplomacy will have to be given priority,” he said, adding “India will continue to contribute in every possible way in this direction.”

PM Modi is on a two-day visit to Laos. On Thursday, he participated in the 21st ASEAN-India Summit, where he announced a 10-point plan in keeping with the theme of “Enhancing Connectivity and Resilience” at the 21st ASEAN-India Summit in Vientiane, Lao PDR.

The ten-point plan included, celebrating ASEAN-India Year of Tourism in 2025, several people centric activities including Youth Summit, Start-up Festival, Hackathon, Music Festival, ASEAN-India Network of Think Tanks and Delhi Dialogue as part of Act East Policy, ASEAN-India Women Scientists Conclave, Doubling the number of scholarships at Nalanda University and provision of new scholarships for ASEAN students at Agricultural Universities in India.

It also included review of ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement by 2025, Enhancing Disaster Resilience for which, a new Health Ministers’ track towards building Health Resilience, a regular mechanism of ASEAN-India Cyber Policy Dialogue, Workshop on Green Hydrogen and ASEAN leaders’ participation in ‘Plant a Tree for Mother’ campaign.