Australia welcomes SAARC declaration on terrorism

SYDNEY: Australia, invited as an observer to the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC), welcomed the Colombo Summit’s declaration calling for international co-operation in the fight against terrorism.

“Australia enjoys strong defence and counter-terrorism links with South Asia. We need to do more with our engagement in South Asia and engaging regularly with South Asia’s premier regional body is a positive step forward,” Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said in a statement released yesterday.

“Observer status at SAARC will enable Australia to annually engage South Asian Governments at the highest levels,” Smith said.

Australia joins the other observers to SAARC, which include China, the European Union, Iran, Japan, Mauritius, South Korea and the US.

With 280,000 people migrating permanently to Australia from SAARC countries and nearly 93,000 South Asian students enrolled in Australian educational institutions last year, people-to-people links between Australia and SAARC member countries have been growing.

Australia’s merchandise and services trade with SAARC countries - India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives and Nepal - was over Australian $13 billion in 2007 and institutional links in key areas such as education, science and technology, and policy dialogues have also been growing.

IANS