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Kathmandu Friday November 23, 2001 Marga 08, 2058.
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SAARC will discuss terrorism,
says Rodrigo
Post Report
KATHMANDU, Nov 22 – The SAARC Secretary
General Nihal Rodrigo revealed on Thursday that the 11th SAARC Summit will take up the
issue of regional terrorism, admitting that the current convention on terrorism is
"not very effective".
"The (SAARC) convention on terrorism ...
has certain shortcomings; we are trying to remove the shortcomings," said the Sri
Lankan Secretary General. "We have had only one informal meeting on this at New York.
The issue will be taken up at the Summit."
During the summit, two conventions – one
on protection of children and the other on trafficking of women in South Asia – will
be signed, said Rodrigo.
The long-delayed meeting of the Heads of the
State or the government of the seven-member South Asia Association for Regional
Co-operation is scheduled to be held in Kathmandu on January 4-6.
The Summit will be held as scheduled, said
Rodrigo, adding that both Indian Prime Minister A B Vajpayee and Pakistan’s President
Gen Pervez Musharraf would attend the meet.
Addressing the journalists at a programme
today by Reporters’ Club here, the outgoing Secretary General also admitted that he
"had made not a very successful attempt" to address the issue of terrorism at
the regional level. Reacting to local reports that four Heads of State – of
Bangladesh, India Pakistan and Sri Lanka – faced terrorist threats during the coming
summit, Rodrigo acknowledged being aware of the news. "We have heard about that and
we are sure the government of Nepal will take all possible measures to address the
security concerns."
Another issue that will be taken up at the
Summit is the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA), the progress on which has been rather
slow. "The present state of SAFTA is not quite satisfactory. We have a draft
declaration prepared by the SAARC Secretariat." However, he added that the issue
requires "intervention by the higher level".
On poverty alleviation, the SAARC chief said
that since each member state has its own approach to the problem, it was difficult to have
a common regional plan. He also said that certain aspects of the regional food security
goal are not practical.
Earlier he said that the three-day Summit
would focus on three aspects – the past, the present and the future – covering
the entire gamut of regional concerns. There will be an assessment of the developments
after last Summit (in Colombo in 1997), the present dealing with the signing of the two
conventions and the future course of action on terrorism and food security.
Meanwhile, a meeting of advisory committee
under the co-ordination of former Foreign Minister Shailendra Kumar Upadhyay on the
preparation for the SAARC Summit was held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs today,
according to a statement issued today by the Ministry.
After reviewing and updating the earlier draft
of Kathmandu Declaration, the committee would recommend and suggest on economic, social
and cultural issues, among others, to the Ministry to prepare a new draft. The committee
comprises of former ambassadors, foreign secretaries, teachers of the Tribhuvan
University, economists and other experts.
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