Pak to attend Dhaka SAARC Summit

DHAKA—Bangladesh Foreign Affairs Adviser and SAARC Chief Coordinator Riaz Rahman told diplomatic reporters here that Bangladesh has speeded up the pre-summit work after Pakistan had reconfirmed its participation despite the October 8 devastating earthquake. “Pakistan has clarified that they are committed to come. so far this is like the green signal we have received,” he said. Pakistan has already postponed the October 21-22 SAARC Commerce Ministers’ Meeting in the wake of the quake, that left around 54,000 people killed. The 11th Committee of Experts (CoE) Meeting on South Asian Free Trade Area (Safta) slated for October 18-22 has also been put off. The meeting is now going to take place in Kathmandu from today (Monday). The Commerce Ministers’ meeting is due to be held by January 1 next year. Replying to a question, Reaz Rahman said four agreements for promoting trade and investment among the SAARC countries are expected to be signed during the Dhaka Summit.
He said the truncated 2-day summit would end up with Dhaka Declaration seeking cooperation in seven critical areas like poverty alleviation, economic cooperation, social charter, disaster management, terrorism and strengthening of the SAARC Secretariat. “Timing of this summit is very important as the SAARC is beginning its third decade into operation,” the foreign affairs adviser said, adding, “The Dhaka summit will focus on South Asian orientation and implementation of decisions taken by the previous summits”. On another question, he said some of the programmes, like retreat for the spouses of the SAARC leaders, were reorganised considering the security factor. The retreat will now be held in Dhaka, which was planned to be held outside the capital before the second postponement. He said the plan for a cultural evening by SAARC member states was also dropped from the programme schedule. Regarding security issue, Reaz Rahman said six sub-committees have been working to ensure maximum security during the summit.
Some 250-300 members of the official delegations of the Saarc countries are expected to arrive in Dhaka for the summit. Besides, around 300 foreign media personnel are likely to cover the summit. The 13th summit was postponed twice — the first time in January in the wake of the December 26 tsunami tragedy affecting three SAARC countries and the second time due to India’s denial to attend the summit in February following a coup in Nepal and alleged security problem in Bangladesh. Under the Saarc Charter, participation of the top leadership of all member nations is mandatory for the summit to take place.—INP