Saarc meet on terrorism, drug trafficking shortly
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Foreign Secretaries from Saarc countries on Monday night recommended a ministerial meeting on combating terrorism and transnational crimes, including drug trafficking, and firmed up several proposals on energy cooperation, poverty alleviation besides follow-up action of free trade agreement. The Standing Committee of the Foreign Secretaries suggested that the ministerial meeting, which would also discuss the problem of human smuggling, be convened at an early date. Bangladesh has decided to host the meeting. Briefing reporters on the two-day deliberations, Pakistan Foreign Secretary Riaz Khokhar, who presided over the meeting, said it was felt that “we should move from words to action, from meetings to projects”. He said the Committee envisaged Saarc as an emerging regional forum in global neighbourhood and that it should have to be interactive with other regional and international organisations as well as influential actors in finance and development. “In doing so, we have to consolidate our own unique strengths, but without creating firewalls around the region that cannot be sustained in a globalised world.” In this regard, Saarc also decided to seek observer status in the United Nations. Permanent Representatives of the seven member states at the UN in New York will be directed to “take action for obtaining observer status” at the world body, Khokhar said. Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com |