International   

SAARC summit preparatory meetings begin today

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD Dec. 28. As Pakistan gears up to provide foolproof security to the visiting SAARC heads of the state and delegates, programming committee consisting of senior officials will meet here tomorrow and the day after to lay the ground for other preparatory conferences at various levels leading to the summit from January 4 to 6.

It is the meetings at the level of Foreign Secretaries on December 31 and January 1 and at the level of Foreign Ministers on January 2 and 3 that would be watched with interest in view of the desire by several members for a political settlement on the South Asia Free Trade Agreement.

The SAARC Commerce Ministers met here on December 23 and 24 but failed to finalise the accord in view of the reservations expressed by Bangladesh. The Pakistan Foreign Secretary, Riaz Khokar, told a news conference here that SAFTA negotiations were still continuing and he was optimistic about its outcome. He said that its finalisation was on hold due to insistence by a member state for enhanced special and differential treatment for the Less Developed Countries.

Other areas of focus included agreements and conventions on suppressing terrorism, narcotics and psychotropic substance, trafficking in women and children for prostitution, and child welfare. It is immediately not clear whether there will be an agreement on suppressing terrorism as India and Pakistan have serious differences on its definition in the context of Jammu and Kashmir.

Three comprehensive reports on poverty alleviation will be submitted to the 12th SAARC summit for approval. These reports have been prepared by the Independent South Asian Commission on Poverty Alleviation, the SAARC Secretary-General and Finance Ministers.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

International

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Putin to run unopposed in March poll?
• Fresh security alert in Europe
• NPC panel adopts constitutional changes
• Dhaka for SAFTA, lukewarm on FTA
• SAARC summit preparatory meetings begin today
• National Assembly ratifies Musharraf's Presidency
• Chandrika's charge against Ranil
• Kashmiri group behind bid on Musharraf?
• Jamali meeting boycotted
• MI6 planned anti-Saddam campaign in Indian media?

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu