Saarc police proposed

Formation of a regional police force patterned on Interpol to prevent trans-national crimes was proposed at the Saarc home ministers' conference in Islamabad yesterday.
Pakistan Home Minister Rehman Malik, who chaired the conference, proposed the idea of forming Saarc Police to facilitate information exchange in the region, according to the Dawn.
Sri Lanka also pushed for creation of the Saarc Police to investigate cross-border crimes in South Asia.
Excepting Bangladesh, home ministers from all other member countries of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) attended the 3rd ministerial conference.
Saarc is comprised of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
However, Home Secretary Abdus Sobhan Shikder attended the meeting of the home secretaries and DG of RAB Hasan Mahmud Khandaker represented Bangladesh at the police chiefs' meeting in Islamabad. Other senior officials from police and home ministry attended in various official level meets.
The home ministers focused on a 13-point agenda covering aspects like anti-terrorism measures, changes in immigration and visa laws, prevention of drug and human trafficking, maritime security and other issues.
The police networking was on top of the agenda at the meeting, reports The Hindu.
The conference also discussed ways to strengthen the Colombo-based Saarc Terror Offences Monitoring Desk and Drug Offences Monitoring Desk, which are the nodal agencies for fight against these scourge.
Earlier, a technical committee of Saarc nations recommended exchanging lists of terrorist organisations and persons and benefiting from each other's experiences in the battle against extremism.
The ministers and officials attending the meetings that began on June 23 also discussed proposals like maritime security and anti-piracy operations under the Saarc charter. The maritime security proposal has been mooted by Sri Lanka and Maldives.
The conference also discussed issues related to Saarc visas in the backdrop of proposals for expanding this category of travel documents. At present MPs, judges, top business leaders, sports persons and senior journalists are availing Saarc Visa facility.
Another meeting of the Saarc home ministers is set to hold in New Delhi in January 2011.