|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
| Wednesday, 16 July 2003 |
 |
|
 |
News | |
| News Business Features Editorial Security Politics World Letters Sports Obituaries
|
The 4th Special Session of the SAARC Standing Committee was held in Kathamandu, Nepal on July 9 and 10 in order to review the progress in the implementation of past decisions and to inject further momentum towards an early convening of the 12th SAARC summit in Pakistan. Sri Lanka's delegation was led by Nihal Rodrigo, Secretary, Foreign Affairs. This meeting held a special significance due to the considerable gap of 10 months since the last meeting of a SAARC charter body. The Standing Committee was successful in reaching a consensus on the proposal of the government of Pakistan to host the 12th SAARC Summit on January 4-6, 2004 preceded by the regular sessions of the other charter bodies; i.e. the Council of (Foreign) Ministers on 2nd and 3rd January; the Standing Committee of Foreign Secretaries on 31st December, 2003 - 1st January, 2004 etc. It was agreed to launch a Fifth Round of Trade Negotiations under SAPTA in order to deepen preferential tariff concessions. These measures would help strengthen overall economic cooperation among the seven countries. The meeting also discussed progress in the field of poverty alleviation and the successful completion of the work of the reconstituted Independent South Asian Commission on Poverty Alleviation and the Regional Poverty Profile. In view of the 11th SAARC Summit Declaration which recognised poverty eradication as the over-arching goal of SAARC, Sri Lanka has offered to host the 3rd tier of poverty alleviation meetings, commencing with the meeting of the Secretaries of Ministries dealing with poverty alleviation to be held in Colombo between July 21-23, 2003. SAARC is discussing with the World Bank to finalise an MoU on collaboration on regional programmes aimed at poverty alleviation. The Sri Lankan delegation circulated a draft for the proposed additional protocol to the SAARC Regional Convention on Suppression of Terrorism and briefed the Committee on the preparations for the meeting to be held in Colombo between August 27-29. The protocol would bring the Regional Convention in line with UN Security Council Resolution 1473 and facilitate practical measures such as interdiction of financing of terrorism. The Standing Committee also reviewed the functioning of the SAARC Integrated Programme of Action (SIPA) and recommended that specialised bodies would be formed to deal with important new emerging areas such as ICT, biotechnology, intellectual property rights, tourism and energy. The Committee noted that Nepal would host a meeting September 11-12, 2003 to finalise the SAARC Social Charter. Sri Lanka has held extensive national consultations and prepared its national position in an inclusive manner involving government and civil society. Sri Lanka has also forwarded its nominees for the Autonomous Advocacy Group of Woman Personalities. The Committee also welcomed the offers by Bangladesh and India to host meetings (9-10 August 2003 in Dhaka and 10-12 November 2003 in Delhi) to formulate a SAARC common position on issues before the Fifth WTO Ministerial Conference and the World Summit on the Information Society. Foreign Secretary Rodrigo also held individual consultations with his SAARC counterparts which were most useful in advancing bilateral cooperation and resolving outstanding issues. Following these consultations, the Nepalese authorities conveyed their intention to approve gratis visas for Buddhist pilgrims from Sri Lanka on the basis of a letter of recommendation from the Ministry of Buddha Sasana. |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
Produced by Lake House |
