Bangladesh News

The forthcoming 14th Saarc Summit in New Delhi is expected to focus particularly on trade, terrorism and connectivity amongst the member countries.
The two-day summit that begins on Tuesday at the Vigyan Bhavan Convention Centre will underscore an increased global interest in the region with the US, European Union (EU), China, Japan and South Korea participating as observers for the first time since the launching of the regional grouping 22 years ago in Dhaka.

Bangladesh Chief Adviser Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed, Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse, Maldives President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Bhutan Prime Minister Khandu Wangchuk and Nepal Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala will attend the summit.

Observer countries’ foreign ministers — Li Zhaoxing of China, Taro Aso of Japan and Song Min-soon of South Korea– will make brief presentations at the opening session of the summit. The US will be represented by Richard Boucher, assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia.

Officials said close interaction with three important observer countries from Asia would further boost the region’s economy.

Besides, the EU and US already have growing economic and trade relations with the Saarc countries.

Meanwhile, the 28th meeting of the Council of Ministers comprising foreign ministers of the Saarc countries will be held tomorrow, a day before the two-day summit starts.

Foreign ministry officials in Dhaka told The Daily Star that the focus of the summit will be on making the regional grouping a more dynamic organisation and moving it towards implementing some of the crucial regional projects that have long been under discussion.

The idea is to make the next two decades of Saarc, as discussed in its last summit in Dhaka, different from the previous 20 years during which many documents were produced with little tangible results.

The summit leaders will finalise the outline of the South Asian University, a large part of which will be based in New Delhi, proposed to be the best in the world with the best students and best faculty. An inter-governmental agreement will be signed at the summit to set up the university.

Other important intra-regional projects that will figure at the summit include Saarc Development Fund, Regional Telemedicine Network and Regional Food Bank. The leaders will focus on translating these ideas into reality by formulating a time-bound plan.

The member states will press for more intra-regional cooperation in combating the common scourge of terrorism in the region.

The summit will seek greater connectivity in South Asia with the Saarc leaders expected to discuss proposals of Saarc Multi-Modal Transport Study to enhance rail, road and air links, and economic integration through elimination of trade barriers and freer flow of ideas.

Sources said the summit leaders will stress converting the grouping into a “seamless and action-oriented organisation” to usher in a new era of peace and progress in the region.

Foreign ministry officials here said the 14th summit will be for ‘connectivity’ — political, economic, ideas and people-to-people — aimed at promoting mutual prosperity.

This time the summit is likely to ‘move the theme of connectivity in very concrete terms’ and ensure implementing the ideas raised in the previous meets, one official noted.