The Hindu : International : Concrete proposals expected at tsunami summit

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jan 06, 2005

International

International

Concrete proposals expected at tsunami summit

By P. S. Suryanarayana

JAKARTA, JAN. 5. The one-day emergency summit on tsunami relief being held here tomorrow under the auspices of the Association of South East Asian Nations is expected to generate "concrete proposals," given the wide spectrum of participation — ranging from the United States and India, among other "core group" members and major players such as China besides the United Nations and multilateral bodies.

The general expectation, among the summit participants and diplomats, was based on the realisation that funds were not in short supply for tsunami relief. However, the extent of consensus would require serious discussions on the anticipated concrete proposals, it was said.

An issue of particular interest would be the status of the "core group," which was formed by the United States, India, Japan, and Australia. As of now, the group is still in existence, although the U.S. Secretary of State, Colin Powell, has already indicated that the aid forum might soon go out of business.

A nagging question is whether the United Nations should now be seen as the "main doctor" after the "core group" had acted as the "first-aid squad," according to diplomatic observers here.

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