The Hindu : National : Stage set for SAARC meet

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Feb 20, 2007
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National

National

Stage set for SAARC meet

Diplomatic Correspondent

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee with the Chief Adviser of Bangladesh's caretaker Government Fakhruddin Ahmed in Dhaka on Monday. — Photo: AFP

NEW DELHI : With External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee personally inviting Chief Adviser of the Bangladeshi Caretaker Government Fakhruddin Ahmed for the 14th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation summit, the stage is set for the April 3 and 4 SAARC meeting in New Delhi.

Dhaka was the last destination on Mr. Mukherjee's South Asian travel itinerary: the External Affairs Minister has already visited Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Pakistan and Afghanistan to invite leaders from these countries for the meeting. It will be Afghanistan's first-ever SAARC summit.

The "personal invitation" has become a bit of a tradition in the South Asian region: with Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz travelling to all SAARC countries to invite them for the January 2004 summit of the regional grouping.

Interestingly, Mr. Mukherjee's visit to Dhaka has not just been confined to the SAARC invitation, but touched all aspects of bilateral relations between the two countries. In his departure statement from Dhaka, he said, "In the context of bilateral relations, both sides agreed to take steps to place bilateral relations on an `irreversible higher trajectory'."

Analysts believe that the Caretaker Government, while retaining Dhaka's concerns on the bilateral trade imbalance, river waters and non-tariff barriers, is keen on mending fences with India and this was amply demonstrated during Mr. Mukherjee's visit.

From New Delhi's point of view, it's evident that forward movement on addressing the issue of Indian extremists based in Bangladesh and the use of Bangladeshi territory by anti-India elements is essential to improving bilateral ties.

In his statement, Mr. Mukherjee announced that India would grant "unconditional duty free access" to two million pieces of readymade garments from Bangladesh.

"The issue of restrictions being placed on import of cosmetics from Bangladesh has also been resolved. The Bangladesh side has been kind enough to offer early operationalisation of [the] Sealdah-Joydevpur passenger train service and to build a bridge over [the] Raghnacherra river," Mr. Mukherjee said.

Both sides, he stated, had agreed to "jointly combat terrorism", which today posed the most grave challenge to our society and threatened the rapid economic development of "our nations".

"India attaches the highest importance to its relations with Bangladesh. I have reiterated India's desire to strengthen and further enhance the friendly cooperative relations between our two countries. It was agreed that further discussions would be held in Delhi and Dhaka to take forward the friendly relations," he stated.

On SAARC matters, the two sides focused on ensuring the success of the summit and the early and full implementation of the South Asia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA), he added.

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