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SAARC focuses on terrorism

by Ranga Kalansooriya in Kathmandu

Sri Lanka will host a meeting of high officials in May aiming at suppressing terrorism in the South Asian region, Foreign Minister Tyronne Fernando said yesterday.

Addressing the media after the meeting of the Council of SAARC Foreign Ministers, Mr. Fernando said that the meeting will review mechanisms in tightening the process of suppressing terrorism in the South Asian region.

The Sri Lankan Foreign Minister yesterday handed over the Chairmanship of SAARC Ministerial Council to his Nepali counterpart Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat during the first day of the meeting.

In his opening remarks at the Council of Ministers Minister Fernando pointed out that SAARC countries should take bold measures to come out of the global economic recession.

"We are meeting at a critical time both for our region and internationally. The global economy is in recession with drastic economic and social repercussions for developing countries. Moreover we have all experienced sharp drops in international trade and tourism after the terrorist attack in the US on September 11. The SAARC is the group of countries most affected by the recent events in Afghanistan," Minister Fernando said.

The SAARC Standing Committee has also decided to implement the UN resolution 1373 on Terrorist Funding in total throughout the region, Standing Committee (SC) Spokesman Madhuraman Acharya told a news conference Tuesday.

"The Member Nations will bring necessary provisions to their respective national legislations accordingly," Mr. Acharya who is also the Nepali acting Foreign Secretary said.

President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga is expected in Kathmandu today. She is due to meet all the SAARC leaders during the Summit period, Sri Lankan Ambassador in Nepal Mrs. Pamala Jayasekera Deen said.

The SAARC Foreign Ministers during their first day deliberations yesterday decided to hold talks with World Bank in a bid to launch a poverty alleviation program on regional level, minister Fernando told the media.

"We are seeking a poverty alleviation program - something similar to Samurdhi in Sri Lanka," he said.

Commenting on Indo-Pakistan relations during the meeting, Minister Fernando said that both Foreign Ministers - Jaswant Singh of India and Abdul Sattar of Pakistan - shook hands in a very cordial manner.

"It was breaking ice. They shook hands in a cordial manner," the Minister said.

The SAARC leaders during their Summit will sign two conventions on combating crime of trafficking women and children for prostitution and regional arrangement for promotion of child welfare in South Asia.

"We paid special attention to this since there are 120 million children being exploited for child labour or otherwise in the region, out of which half a million are from Sri Lanka," he added.

In a bid to gear up economic cooperation in the region, the SC which concluded its deliberations yesterday, has also decided that the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) Treaty framework be ready by the end of this year.

"We adopted in principle the recommendations of the Group of Eminent Persons (GEP) to implement gradually the concept of South Asian Economic Union (SAEU)," Standing Committee (SC) Spokesman Madhuraman Acharya told the media at the Everest Hotel.

More meetings of the Council of Economic Cooperation will also be held to facilitate the implementation of South Asian Preferential Trade Arrangement (SAPTA), he said.

Among many other decisions taken by the SC to accelerate the SAARC process is a series of meetings of ministers in several fields.

Pakistan will soon host a meeting of SAARC Planning and Finance Ministers to address the issue of poverty alleviation while environment ministers of the region will gather in Bhutan with a view to creating an environment friendly region.

India will organise a meeting for SAARC Science and Technology ministers and Sri Lanka will host a gathering for cultural ministers in the region.

Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Tyronne Fernando arrived Tuesday and commenced bilateral talks with his Indian and Pakistani counterparts just after his arrival. Sri Lankan Ambassador in Nepal Mrs. Pamala Jayasekera Deen also took part in these talks. He was also to meet Foreign Ministers from Bangladesh and Nepal.

Mr. Fernando who is the current Chairman of the SAARC Minister's Council will handover the Chairmanship to his Nepali counterpart Arjun Jung Bahadur Singh today during the first session of the Minister's Council meeting.

Meanwhile, the region's largest media gathering, the South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) yesterday decided to urge the SAARC leaders to ensure a free movement for journalists within the region.

"Not only the free movement of journalists. It should also include the free-flow of information, especially media products within the region," said Imitiasz Alam, the Regional Coordinator of SAFMA.

The two deliberations of the grouping commenced yesterday at the Raddison Hotel in Kathmandu with the participation of over 150 leading journalists in the region. Sri Lanka is being represented by a 10-member delegation.

Elsewhere, heavy security has been provided to the Summit with emergency regulations which are currently being implemented throughout this Himalayan Kingdom. Heavily armed commandoes have been put on full alert along Kathmandu streets and the Summit premises and people's movements have been restricted from 7 p.m.

The Heads of State and Government are expected here tomorrow and the day after. 

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