European countries participating in an international conflict prevention conference that ended Tuesday in Tokyo sought cooperation from Asian nations to tackle human and small arms smuggling.
Members of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe asked Asian countries to work on a joint project to address the issues, a Japanese government official said.
The participants discussed working toward nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction, tackling the growing threat of terrorist attacks, and dealing with the smuggling of humans, small arms and drugs, the official said.
The Asian countries are expected to consider the OSCE's request, he said.
About 180 people from more than 50 countries took part in the second Japan-OSCE conference at the Foreign Ministry, the official said.
Participants included senior officials from Japan and member countries of the 55-nation OSCE and its cooperation partners, including Afghanistan, Egypt, Jordan, South Korea and Thailand, as well as representatives of nongovernmental organizations and academic and research institutions.
Also among the participants were delegates of the ASEAN Regional Forum, an Asia-Pacific security forum of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and its regional partners, including Australia, New Zealand and the United States.
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