The BIMSTEC Leaders at the Goa Retreat held on 16 October 2016, recognized the need for urgent measures to counter and prevent the spread of terrorism, violent extremism and radicalization. The Leaders expressed determination to take concrete measures to step up cooperation and coordination among law enforcement, intelligence and security organisations of the BIMSTEC Member States. The Leaders in the Goa Retreat agreed to convene “Annual Meeting of National Security Chiefs of Member States on Information and Intelligence Sharing”.
The BIMSTEC National Security Chiefs initiated the following subsidiary mechanisms of Security cooperation:
# List of Meetings of BNSCs held so far:
| Meetings | Venue | Date |
| 3rd BNSCs | Bangkok, Thailand | 21 March 2019 |
| 2nd BNSCs | Dhaka, Bangladesh | 28 March 2018 |
| 1st BNSCs | New Delhi, India | 21 March 2017 |