India seeks ACD focus on energy, food security

Dubai, Oct 12 (PTI) Indian Minister of State for External
Affairs E Ahamed has proposed for the Asia Cooperation
Dialogue (ACD) to focus on energy and food security.
Addressing the 10th Asia Cooperation Dialogue meeting
held in Kuwait from October 9-11, Ahamad said the ACD must
have a bearing on the global discourse on these issues,
particularly since both energy and food security are
fundamental to efforts at sustained economic development.
"We have amongst us here the world's most important
energy producers and consumers. The steep rise in fuel and
food prices, volatility in commodity prices and extreme
climatic occurrences threaten various development schemes. ACD
can be a useful forum to develop cooperative mechanisms to
address such issues," he said.
Ahamed also said ACD member countries should recourse to
joint ventures in greater numbers to sustain long-term
engagement.
"I would like to mention here the Indian private sector's
contribution to the economic growth in many of the SAARC,
ASEAN and GCC countries in Asia," he said.
Ahamed also said India supports both dimensions of the
ACD, namely 'dialogue' and 'projects'.
"The uniqueness of the ACD is its diverse membership,
reflected in the multiple areas identified for project
cooperation. India strongly endorses the ACD approach of
exploring complementarities amongst its members and finding
common opportunities for cooperation and development," Ahamed
said.
"As we look back at 10 years of cooperation as ACD member
states, we would think that ACD is well established as a
'dialogue' forum. We, perhaps, need to give further momentum
to the 'project' dimension of ACD for more constructive
engagements and partnerships," Ahamed added.
He also suggested that each of the prime movers consider
periodically circulating to all the member countries outcome
information on the initiatives undertaken.
"We could identify points of contact in the ministries
for foreign affairs for dissemination of such information.
This would facilitate better coordination amongst member
states from the working-level upward," he added.
Ahamed also said ACD member countries together constitute
the biggest aggregate of natural resources in the world.
"However, there are many ACD members who require our
assistance in terms of technology and know-how. We need to
cooperate further in this regard," he said.
As co-prime mover in the field of culture, India has
proposed to host the 2nd Senior Officials Meeting on Cultural
Cooperation under the ACD on January 17-18, 2012. PTI CORR
SAR