India asks Saarc nations to rally against terrorism

Highlighting the threat posed by terrorism to economic stability of South Asia, India today pressed the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) member countries to rally against the menace and sought early ratification of the regional instruments designed to fight it.

Addressing the Saarc council of ministers' meeting in Thimphu, external affairs minister SM Krishna referred to the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters signed during the Colombo Summit of Saarc in 2008 and said the Saarc secretariat and relevant Saarc mechanisms may be directed to operationalise the provisions of it while awaiting conclusion of the legal processes.

He also underlined the urgent need for enhancing regional integration by opening borders, upgrading trade, transport and
telecommunication links and harmonising customs procedures and standards.

"Terrorism poses a serious danger to the economic stability of any civilised society. The South Asian region is particularly afflicted by this menace. The time has come for us to rally against the forces of terrorism that seek to divide and weaken our societies," he told the conference attended by foreign ministers of Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Afghanistan.

"I extend a call to my fellow leaders to join hands to fight and defeat terrorism, including through the early ratification of regional instruments such as the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters, signed at the last summit in 2008, and early conclusion of the proposed UN Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT), as directed by our leaders at the 15th Saarc summit," Krishna said.

Although he did not name any country in this regard, he was apparently referring to Pakistan which is yet to ratify either the CCIT or the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters.

Krishna said India, in cooperation with Sri Lanka, is involved in the strengthening of the Saarc Terrorists Offences Monitoring Desk and the Saarc Drug Offences Monitoring Desk for sharing of information amongst the security forces of the member countries.

The minister said Saarc member countries have an abiding obligation to address the pressing problems that beset the region, "which we should set about achieving through well-defined goals based on mutual cooperation and understanding".

He said the effort of the Saarc countries would be to "infuse a fresh dynamism" into the regional processes and to strive to channelise the fruits of collective efforts to the most vulnerable sections of the societies. Noting that the region was emerging out of the "period of unprecedented global recession into expectations of relative economic growth and stability," Krishna said, "We should seize he opportunity to advance our collective efforts to enhance trade, open borders and facilitate economic integration in our egion."

He said the focus should be on improving regional connectivity through upgrading trade, transport and telecommunication links.

Krishna said India supported a fresh Saarc position on climate change in accordance with the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change principles and the Bali Action Plan.

Under this, concerns of developing countries have been taken onboard, he added.