Need to invest in modern military technology to thwart terror threats: Experts

MEMTEC Chairman Shaikh Dr Abdullah bin Ahmed Al Khalifa

By Habib Toumi

Manama: The careful choice and procurement of arms remains a strategic necessity for investing in modern military technology to deal with the current threats despite the change in the nature of war and the receding risks of conventional warfare, an international conference in Bahrain has agreed.

The participants in the five panels of the Middle East Military Technology Conference (MEMTEC) held alongside the second Bahrain International Defense Exhibition and Conference (BIDEC) stressed “the importance of devising adequate national security strategies to coincide with military development technologies.”

In their communiqué, the participants called for the “ratification of a number of regulations on the use of military technology by the international community – through the United Nations – to prevent armed militias from acquiring it and from threating the national security of countries.”

The regulations will also prevent countries from using such technology for non-peaceful purposes, they said.

There is an urgent need to use safe information exchange mechanisms between countries as a basis to thwart terrorist plans and attempts to use modern technology in targeting state security without waging conventional wars, the conference said.

Participants in the conference

“Amid multiple challenges facing regional and global security, setting priorities remains crucial, topped by energy security and the security of vital waterways in general,” the communiqué said.

“Given the violent nature of current regional crises that pose a challenge to regional and global security, crisis management mechanisms must be devised to limit their impact, in addition to using Artificial Intelligence applications to enhance defense capabilities of armed forces.”