COLOMBO, May 20: Nine countries have launched a group to help fight terrorism and criminal activity in the Indian Ocean region by improving port and maritime safety, the US Coast Guard said on Tuesday.

US Coast Guard Activities Far East said in a statement that Maldives President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and his ministers inaugurated the South Asia Regional Port Security Cooperative — or SARPSCO — at a four-day meeting that began on Monday.

“If crimes such as illegal fishing, human smuggling and the transportation of illegal cargoes and drugs cannot be collectively combated, then neither can terrorism and piracy,” the statement quoted US Coast Guard Rear Admiral Craig E. Bone as telling the conference.

Establishing the group sends a clear message “to terrorists and criminals in the South Asia and Indian Ocean region that they will be detected, they will be interdicted and their activities will not be tolerated,” Bone said.

Bangladesh, Comoros, India, Madagascar, Maldives, Mauritius, Oman, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are represented in the grouping. The US does not belong and will only function as the “facilitating country,” according to spokesman Scott Stoermer.

“Cargo containers and international seaports pose potentially attractive targets for terrorists,” said Robert Blake, the ambassador to Sri Lanka and Maldives who is heading the US delegation. “A successful attack against a port could cripple a nation’s economy and disrupt international shipping worldwide.”—AP