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Accord on treaty for help in criminal matters

B. Muralidhar Reddy

COLOMBO: The SAARC Council of Ministers consisting of Foreign Ministers of eight member countries on Thursday agreed on a treaty for ‘mutual legal assistance in criminal matters’ incorporating for the first time issues related to combating terrorism.

The Council meeting would conclude on Friday and followed by a two-day Summit of the Heads of the State of the Association on August 2 and 3. On August 3 the leaders would have a retreat at Parliament House on the outskirts of the island’s national capital.

On the opening day of the meeting the Ministers unanimously agreed to incorporate ‘terrorism’ related clauses in the treaty on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters. Definition of terrorism has so far proved to be elusive and a draft convention proposed by India at the UN on terrorism is pending finalisation due to lack of consensus among member countries on a few aspects, including definition of terrorism.

At a news conference here, Sri Lanka Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogallagama said that for the first time in the history of SAARC the Council discussed the issue of a SAARC agreement on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters, with the view of combating terrorism and a further step forward in regional cooperation for the safety and security of the region.

He said the Ministers endorsed the draft Declaration of the Colombo Summit as well as the Colombo Statement on Food Security placed before the Council by the Standing Committee comprising of Foreign Secretaries.

The Minister said the Council would consider matters related to food security in the region as well as regional cooperation in energy. A meeting of the Agriculture Ministers of the region was proposed subsequently to consider various ideas including food security fund and food bank.

“We will continue to address poverty alleviation as an overarching goal of SAARC while looking at effective national and regional measures to achieve the SAARC Development Goals,” the Minister added.

The Minister said the Council also finalised guidelines for observer countries as well as the criteria for grant of observer status.

Nine observer states are participating in this year’s summit —including Australia and Myanmar as the eighth and ninth observing bodies.

The Minister said that with Afghanistan entering into the South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) at the Colombo Summit, trade and investment opportunities would expand.

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