Top diplomats meet to discuss Saarc agenda

The foreign secretaries of South Asia yesterday met in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu to discuss cooperation on different issues ahead of the 18th Saarc Summit scheduled there on November 26-27.

Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque and other top diplomats met at the 41st meeting of the Saarc Standing Committee with issues like combating terrorism, poverty alleviation, energy security and climate change on the agenda. Besides, the secretaries have also started reviewing the progress in the implementation of their earlier decisions.

During yesterday's meeting, the Maldives Foreign Secretary Ali Naseer Mohamed handed over the chair of the standing committee comprised of the Saarc foreign secretaries to Nepal's acting foreign secretary Shanker Das Bairagi.

Taking over the chair, Bairagi said, "As terrorism in all its form and manifestation has remained a formidable challenge for our region, coordinated and concerted efforts are required to tackle the situation."

He said poverty alleviation had remained a major issue on the Saarc agenda for decades and despite consistent efforts, a quarter of South Asian people still live in poverty and hunger.

On the acute energy deficit in the region, Bairagi observed, “We can make tremendous progress through meaningful cooperation in this sector. So, trade has a huge potential to make the region a vibrant economic zone and strong commitment and decisive actions are required to fully and effectively implement South Asian Free Trade Area [Safta] agreement.”

At the meeting, Saarc Secretary General Arjun Bahadur Thapa presented periodic analytical reports on progress made by Saarc and its future course of action.

Indian Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh, Pakistani Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, Sri Lankan Secretary at the Ministry of External Affairs Ms Kshenuka Senewiratne and Afghanistan's Deputy Director for Regional Cooperation Seddiq Rasuli are attending the meeting.

Official sources say that country reports on Saarc activities, reports of the Programming Committee, report of the Second Meeting of Saarc Cabinet Secretaries, reports on the economic and financial cooperation and Saarc Development Fund are being discussed.

The other issues in focus are information and communications technology, transport, agriculture, rural development and food security, environment, climate change and natural disaster, biotechnology, social development, health and population, legal matters, narcotics, education, Saarc Apex and Recognised Bodies, cooperation with intergovernmental and other organisations, strengthening of Saarc mechanisms.

The two-day meet is set to ratify the agenda endorsed by the Programming Committee comprised of joint secretaries that met on Saturday. The standing committee would fine-tune the Kathmandu Declaration and agreements to be signed during the summit.

The meeting is scheduled to include the issues to be presented at the summit. The subjects not finalised by the standing committee meeting would be forwarded to the Saarc Council of Ministers and the Kathmandu Declaration would be finalised on the basis of endorsement made by the council.

On completion of the two-day deliberations, the standing committee will submit its report to the Saarc Council of Ministers, which is comprised of the foreign ministers of the member states.