HEADLINE NEWS THE RISING NEPAL (DAILY)

SAARC Ministers stress to strengthen economic cooperation, curb terrorism
SAARC Summit in Jan : SAPTA negotiations Sept 2-4

By Narayan Upadhyay

KATHMANDU, Aug. 22: The 23rd meeting of the SAARC Council of Ministers concluded here today with accent on accelerating regional economic cooperation, fixing a set date for all regional summits, implementing poverty alleviation programmes and suppressing terrorism.

"Out of these, two big achievements of the present session were the ministers' acceptance to fix a date for the SAARC summits and speeding up regional economic cooperation," Chairperson for the 23rd Session Sharat Singh Bhandari said at the conclusion of the two-day session.

"Every successive year, a fixed date for the SAARC summit will be decided for the month of January. It will end all confusion regarding when the summits will be held, besides giving momentum to the SAARC process," Bhandari said. "The 12th SAARC Summit in Islamabad will take place between January 5 and 20 next year."

"The next achievement is in the area of economic cooperation among the member states, for which a time-bound goal and target has been fixed. Also the finalisation of the SAPTA within a time-bound framework will enhance cooperation in this area," he said. The fourth round of the SAPTA negotiations will be held in Kathmandu September 2-4.

During the meeting, the ministers gave high priority to the issue of poverty alleviation. The Secretary General has been preparing a regional poverty profile as directed by the 11th Summit. For this a meeting of the SAARC Finance and Planning Ministers will be held in Colombo.

On the issue of terrorism, Bhandari said that all the member states reiterated their commitment to suppressing terrorism. Senior officials, assisted by legal advisors, will meet to come up with recommendations or protocols. A ministerial level meeting, to be hosted by Bangladesh, will ratify these protocols to implement ways to suppress terrorism.

The meeting has endorsed Nepal's proposal to establish a SAARC award of US$ 8,000 and a citation to be presented by the incumbent chairperson. The recipient will be recommended to the Council of Ministers by a selection committee.

Apart from a concept paper on the SAARC Award, Nepal also presented two other concept papers on rationalising institutional issues relating to the SAARC and forming an autonomous advocacy group of women personalities. The council approved all three papers.

The Council of Ministers, before parting, undertook a comprehensive review of the progress made in implementing the decisions taken by the leaders of the SAARC nations during the 11th Summit. At the end, said Bhandari, the ministers were able to adopt a report in which they renewed their commitment to carry forward the spirit of cooperation by providing further impetus to the SAARC process.

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