Guwahati: India and Bangladesh have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for cooperation in the field of disaster management, resilience and mitigation, the government said on Wednesday.
“The MoU seeks to put in place a system, whereby both India and Bangladesh will be benefited from the Disaster Management mechanisms of each other and it will help in strengthening the areas of preparedness, response and capacity building in the field of disaster management,” a statement from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said.
The MoU has been signed between the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) under MHA and the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief of Bangladesh. The Union Cabinet chaired by PM Narendra Modi was informed of the MoU, signed in March, on Wednesday.
According to MHA, the MoU envisages extending mutual support on the request of either parties at the time of large-scale disaster (natural or man-made) occurring within their respective territories, in the field of relief, response, reconstruction and recovery.
It also provides for the exchange of relevant information, remote sensing data and other scientific data apart from sharing of experience/best practices of disaster response, recovery, mitigation, and capacity building for ensuring resilience, etc.
The two countries are also expected to support training of officials in the field of disaster management and conduct joint disaster management exercises bilaterally.
