India and Somalia on Monday agreed that there was the need to chalk out a common strategy to tackle the menace of the Somali pirates.
An understanding to this effect was reached during a meeting External Affairs Minister S. M. Krishna and the Deputy Prime Minister of Somalia, Abdirahman Ibbi, here today.
Krishna said that he had a good discussion with the Somalian Deputy Prime Minister over the issue of Somali pirates and the Indian hostages being held by them.
"I did bring about the issue of 53 of our hostages with the pirates. And I have requested the good offices of the Somalian Transitional Government to be used in the release of these 53 of our Indian hostages," said Krishna.
"He has assured me that he would do everything possible to get the release and we hope that things would be able to be sorted out," he added.
Abdirahman Ibbi said the menace of the Somali pirates needed to be handled by both the nations jointly.
"We should have a common strategy. We need to have a way to deal with this issue and not only the source of money, the source of funding, and the sources of documents. This piracy has now become not only a Somali problem," said Ibbi.
"It has now become a regional problem and it has also become an international problem. So, the solution lies not only with Somalia, but also with the Indian Government and the international community," he added.
Ibbi further said piracy was an outcome of economic restlessness in Somalia, and that the governments of Somalia and India would jointly open job opportunities in the coastal areas of Somalia, which are highly affected by piracy.
According to media reports, the Somali pirates had hijacked the vessel MV Suez in the Gulf of Aden. The ship's crew includes four Pakistanis, six Indians, four Sri Lankans and 11 Egyptians.
Source: Asian News International/DailyIndia.com
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