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SAARC Foreign Ministers arrive in Kathmandu today

by Ranga Kalansooriya in New Delhi

The Foreign Ministers of the seven South Asian nations will commence preliminary deliberations tomorrow (2), in Kathmandu, in preparation for the SAARC Summit on January 4.

Most of the Foreign Ministers including India's Jaswant Singh, Pakistan's Abdul Sattar and Sri Lanka's Tyronne Fernando are expected to land in Kathmandu today.

The SAARC agenda addresses the women and child issues in detail. But, it is expected that regional terrorism will dominate the entire sessions of the Summit and other related meetings with India's decision to dedicate its total contributions and interventions towards cross-border terrorism.

Indian Premier Atal Behari Vajpayee yesterday said at the all party conference that he would be making use of this tour to the Summit, to address the issue of terrorism in full.

Political party leaders have urged the Indian government to tighten its diplomatic efforts in relation to the Pakistan dispute keeping military action as the last option.

US President Bush in telephone conversations with both leaders had urged them to resolve the crisis through diplomatic means. He has called on the Pakistani President to take every possible measure to crack-down on extremist terrorist groups while extending support to India in its battle against terrorism.

Meanwhile, President Musharaff has decided to make his way to Kathmandu via China following India's refusal to permit use of its airspace to reach Nepal. China will provide Chinese pilots to enter Nepal since Pakistani pilots are not allowed to land in Kathmandu across China's border.

All Heads of State are expected in Kathmandu on January 3, a day before the three-day Summit.

Meanwhile, a thick fog has kept thousands of air and train passengers stranded in New Delhi for the past couple of days.

Dozens of flight and hundreds of trains have been cancelled due to fog which enveloped entire Delhi and its suburbs.

"In the morning and evening runway visibility drops as low as 50 meters," an airline spokesman said.

The newly installed ILS CAT-IIIA facility on runway of the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) in New Delhi, is helpful only if the visibility is 200 meters, he said.

On Friday evening, only the Sri Lankan Airlines UL 190 flight was able to touch down in heavy fog while dozens of landings were being cancelled, an airport official said.

Most of the flights were diverted to Ahamadabad, Kolkatta or Bombay. The SriLankan Pilot decided to land in IGIA after circling for more than half an hour and announcing that he may have to divert the flight to Ahamadabad if he could not see the runway properly.

"The skills and the talent of the Sri Lankan Pilot were excellent," an airport staffer commented.

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