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| Saturday, 3 January 2004 |
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Terrorism: Focus sharp at SAARC by Uditha Kumarasinghe in Islamabad The 12th SAARC leaders meeting will commence in Islamabad, Pakistan tomorrow at 9.20 a.m. President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga's position at the 11th SAARC Summit in Kathmandu to strengthen the process to suppress terrorism in the South Asian region will be given pride of place with top priority at the 12th SAARC Summit in progress in Islamabad. The President stressed the need at the Kathmandu Summit for an additional protocol to tackle terrorist funding in the region. The 12th SAARC leaders meeting will commence in Islamabad, Pakistan tomorrow at 9.20 a.m. This session will lay the foundation for the Summit where leaders from SAARC countries will seek to bring peace and economic stability to a region home to a quarter of the world's population. The Summit being held from January 4 to 6 after a year's lapse will bring together leaders from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, The Maldives and Sri Lanka. The 24th session of SAARC Ministers commenced yesterday in Islamabad to finalise the South Asia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) to reach a common consensus on outstanding issues. The incumbent chairman of the Council of Ministers, the Nepali Ambassador -at-large Dr. Bhekh B. Thapa handed over the chairmanship to the Pakistan Foreign Minister Mehamood Kasuri. The two day session will set the ground for the leaders of the seven SAARC nations to meet and find ways and means to bring peace, stability and economic viability to the region. Sri Lanka was represented by Foreign Minister Tyronne Fernando. The Colombo team comprised Aruni Wijewardene (Director, South Asia and SAARC), Shanika Dissanayake (Assistant Director, South Asia and SAARC) and K. K. Yoganandan (Assistant Director, South Asia and SAARC). The agreement on the SAARC Preferential Trading Agreement (SAPTA) was signed in April 1993 and put into force on December 1995 to promote economic and industrial development activities of SAARC countries. However the 10th SAARC Summit in Colombo decided to set up a Committee of Experts to prepare a Treaty Framework establishing the South Asia Free Trade Area (SAFTA). The current session of the council of ministers will lay emphasis in the core areas such as trade, finance and investment to achieve the goal of an integrated South Asian economy in a meaningful manner. Meanwhile, Pakistani Foreign Secretary, Riaz Khokar told a media briefing on Thursday that SAFTA had resolved main obstacles. "We are hopeful that we would be able to sort out many differences as well," he told reporters after the conclusion of the two day 29th session of the SAARC Standing Committee on Thursday. Commenting on SAPTA to SAFTA he said: "We are still negotiating and will publicise the decisions later. "We have agreed on the text and there is no difference of opinion in this regard for our side. The agreements are always sorted out if anything is needed to be sorted out with regard to SAFTA." Indian and Pakistani leaders have finalised bilateral meeting with member countries. As a significant feature, the two leaders will come face to face for the first time after two years with the intention of strengthening the process of Wednesday's meeting of the Foreign Secretaries of the seven nations to finalise the regional agenda. President Kumaratunga is also expected to hold bilateral talks with Prime Ministers of India, Nepal and Bangladesh. Over 500 journalists are in Islamabad to cover the SAARC Summit with focus on the meeting between Indian and Pakistani leaders. Tight security is in place for the summit. Addressing the press on Thursday, Pakistan Foreign Secretary Riaz Khokhar said the SAARC Standing Committee's 29th session was held in a cordial atmosphere and all delegations worked with cooperation and understanding to reach a consensus on several key issues in the region. He said Thursday's SAARC Standing Committee meeting laid key emphasis on poverty alleviation, economic cooperation, social issues, additional protocol on terrorism and the formal and informal consultations on Framework Agreement for South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA). He said: "I am glad to announce today that the 12th SAARC Summit process has started successfully". Khokhar said SAARC has approved the report on the Independent South Asian Commission on Poverty Alleviation." "We are integrating the recommendations of the commission in our national poverty alleviation programs by giving a special advocacy role to the commission," he told a media briefing at Holiday Inn Hotel, Islamabad yesterday. The SAARC Secretariat will collaborate with the UN and other international organisations for this purpose and SAARC member states will remain as the monitoring authorities. The Committee on Economic Cooperation will give special attention to the matters of transit facilities and transport infrastructure. The SAARC Finance Ministers will consider the feasibility of a South Asian Development Bank and also to promote and protect investment within the region, he said. He said there have been extensive formal and informal negotiations on a Framework Agreement for SAFTA. Significant progress has been made on this issue so far but the consultations are continuing. The text of the Social Charter is being transmitted to the Council of Ministers for approval. In addition, priority has also been given to the social sphere including the prevention and combat trafficking in women and children, promotion of child welfare and voluntary fund for disabled persons. Meanwhile, significant progress has been achieved on the text of the Protocol to combat terrorism. The text cleared by the Standing Committee has been sent to the Council of Ministers, he said. "These are major achievements reached by the summit so far. Therefore the 12th SAARC Summit will be different from the other Summits. Our prime objective should be to take every possible attempt to safeguard the future existence of SAARC. In order to fulfil this requirement, various kinds of problems faced by the SAARC countries should be resolved," he said. |
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