Eight leaders begin deliberations today:

SAARC focus on five key issues

Rajmi MANATUNGA

COLOMBO: The 15th SAARC Heads of State Summit will get underway in Colombo today with special emphasis on the issues of terrorism, poverty alleviation, food and energy security, and climate change.

The Summit, which marks the climax of five days of deliberations by the SAARC Programming and Standing committees and the Council of Ministers since July 27, will be attended by the Heads of State or Government of all eight SAARC nations. President Mahinda Rajapaksa will become the Chairman of SAARC for the coming year.

Representatives of seven non-SAARC nations, namely China, the European Union (EU), Iran, Mauritius, Japan, Korea and the United States will also participate in the summit as observers.

The Council of Ministers which concluded its discussions on Thursday finalised the agenda for the Heads of State summit, the inaugural session of which will be held at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall today, following which the leaders will retreat to the Parliament tomorrow for informal discussions.

Among the highlights of today’s Summit will be the signing of four significant regional agreements including the proposed Agreement on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters with the significant inclusion of a regional framework for cooperation in tackling terrorism, and the setting up of a SAARC Development Fund to provide financial assistance for economic, social and infrastructure development projects in the region.

An accord to set up a South Asia Standard institution and the Protocol on Afghanistan’s accession to the South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) are the other two instruments.

According to the Foreign Ministry, the draft Colombo Declaration to be discussed and adopted by the SAARC leaders at today’s summit would include a SAARC declaration on food security, an action plan for climate change, measures to maximise energy and water resources, economic cooperation and regional transport, education and health.

In addition, the formal decision to admit Australia and Myanmar as observes of SAARC, as a result of the growing international interest in the regional organisation, will also be made at the summit.

The venue for the 16th SAARC summit will also be agreed upon at the conclusion of the Heads of State summit which commences today.

The SAARC Heads of State and Government who take part in the summit started arriving in Sri Lanka from Thursday night. They were received by Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayaka and several key ministers at the Bandaranaike International Airport. Nepal Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala was the first to arrive in the country at 11.10 p.m. Thursday.

He was followed by Bhutan Prime Minister Jigme Thinley who arrived at 12.15 a.m. yesterday, Bangladesh Chief Advisor Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed, Maldives President Dr. Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, Pakistan Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani, and President Hamid Karzai representing SAARC’s youngest member Afghanistan.

The representatives of the Observer States who will take part in today’s summit are Chinese Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Wu Dawei, EU Director-Asia James Moran, Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Monoucher Mottachi, Mauritius Minister of Agro Industries and Fisheries Dr. Arvin Bolell, Korean Vice foreign Minister Kwon Jong Rak and Assistant Secretary to the US Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs Richard A. Boucher.

The Heads of State Summit concludes on Sunday.