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Pakistan, Afghanistan to fight terrorism jointly

— Photo: AP

Strengthening security: Iron frames being welded at the Indian Embassy following the recent suicide attack in Kabul.

COLOMBO: Pakistan and Afghanistan on Sunday agreed to work towards “developing a common strategy” to overcome the challenges posed to the security and stability of both countries by terrorism.

The resolve was articulated in a joint statement after a meeting between Prime Minister of Pakistan Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani and President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai on Sunday on the sidelines of the SAARC Summit here.

“The meeting was held in a cordial atmosphere,” said the statement said. In his bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday, Mr. Gilani promised to seek information from Mr. Karzai on charges of involvement of a section of Pakistani establishment in the attack on the Indian Embassy in the first week of July.

The joint statement said they recalled the strong bonds of brotherhood between the two nations and exchanged views on the “common challenges facing the two countries in terms of dealing with terrorism and militancy”.

“Both sides agreed that there was a need for the two governments to engage on all issues across the board with a view to developing a common strategy to overcome the challenges posed to the security and stability of both countries by terrorism and extremism. The two sides agreed to coordinate their efforts to stop cross border terrorism.”

The statement said they decided that their Foreign Ministers would prepare “grounds for a framework for close and constructive engagement” between the two countries to build confidence and develop a common strategy at the political, military and intelligence levels in collaboration with their coalition partners and NATO/ISAF.

The 15th SAARC Summit on Sunday decided to convene an extraordinary meeting of the Agriculture Ministers to work out a strategy on food security and operationalisation of a “SAARC Food Bank”.

In a statement titled “Colombo Statement on Food Security”, the leaders affirmed their resolve “to ensure region-wide food security and make South Asia, once again, the granary of the world”.

“In view of the emerging global situation of reduced food availability and worldwide rise in food prices, we direct that an Extra-ordinary Meeting of the Agriculture Ministers of the SAARC Member States be convened in New Delhi, India in November 2008, to evolve and implement a people-centred short to medium term regional strategy and collaborative projects that would, among others, lead to:

“Increase in food production; Investment in agriculture and agro-based industries; Agriculture research and prevention of soil health degradation; Development and sharing of agricultural technologies; Sharing of best practices in procurement and distribution; and Management of the climatic and disease-related risks in agriculture.”

The leaders decided on the operationalisation of the “SAARC Food Bank” and emphasised early drawing up of the SAARC Agriculture Perspective 2020. In his concluding speech at the Summit as the new Chairman of the SAARC, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa said given the seriousness of the subject of food security, the leaders felt that it deserves to be addressed through a Special Statement.

“In this Statement, we affirm our resolve to make South Asia, once again a major granary of the world, through a series of specific regional collaborative projects. Towards this end, we will shortly be convening an Extraordinary Meeting of our Agriculture Ministers. At the same time, to ensure continued nutritional security, we have directed that the SAARC Food Bank which will store stocks for distribution in case of a particular scarcity within the South Asian region, should be immediately operationalised,” he said.

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