Pranab to attend SAARC ministerial conference

T V Sriram

Colombo, Feb 22 (PTI) Terrorism and economic and
financial cooperation will be high on the agenda at the
upcoming SAARC ministerial meet to be held here this week,
where External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee will
represent India.

"The SAARC Council of Ministers represented by the
Foreign Ministers of SAARC Member States will meet in Colombo
on 27-28 February for its Inter-Summit Session," a Sri Lankan
Foreign Ministry statement said.

The ministerial meet of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh,
Afghanistan, Nepal, Maldives, Bhutan and host Sri Lanka will
be preceded by official and Foreign Secretary level
discussions.

Mukherjee will attend the meeting of SAARC Council of
Ministers on February 27 and is expected to underline the need
for early ratification of SAARC Convention on Terrorism which
is already in place.

Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon and other top
officials of the External Affairs ministry will also attend
the meeting.

India is expected to press for concrete and sincere
cooperation by Pakistan to end cross-border terrorism as the
meet comes just three months after the deadly Mumbai terror
strikes.

Mukherjee is expected to meet his Sri Lankan
counterpart Rohitha Bogollogama and discuss the latest
situation in north of island nation.

India has been concerned over the humanitarian
situation caused by the conflict in north Sri Lanka.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa will address the 31st
Session of the Council of Ministers on 27 February in his
capacity as the current Chair of South Asian Association
for Regional Coperation (SAARC).

The meeting is also expected to discuss terrorism and
the implementation of the SAARC Regional Convention on
Suppression of Terrorism and its Additional Protocol as well
as the SAARC Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal
Matters.

Apart from exploring ways and means of expediting
progress in agreed areas of cooperation, the meetings will
discuss current issues of concern for the region with a view
to taking regional action to address challenges.

Issues related to social development, health and
population and narcotic drugs is also likely to be discussed
during the meeting.

The Meetings will also consider the Reports of
Ministerial Meetings held since the 15th Colombo Summit.

Since assuming the chairmanship of SAARC, Sri Lanka
has hosted two SAARC Ministerial Meetings, namely on Energy
and on Parliamentary Affairs, the ministry said.

This includes the First Meeting of the SAARC Ministers
of Science and Technology, Extraordinary Meeting of SAARC
Agriculture Ministers, Third SAARC Energy Ministers Meeting
and the Conference of SAARC Ministers of Parliamentary
Affairs.

The Programming Committee will be chaired by
Additional Foreign Secretary of Sri Lanka Prasad Kariyawasam
while the Standing Committee will be chaired by Foreign
Secretary Dr Palitha Kohona and the 31st Session of the
Council will be chaired by Foreign Minister Rohitha
Bogollagama.

With a view to implementing the Colombo Statement on
Food Security by Heads of State and Government at the 15th
SAARC Summit, Sri Lanka hosted two meetings of the SAARC Food
Bank Board in October 2008 and February 2009.

This year will also see Sri Lanka host SAARC
Ministerial Meetings on Higher Education, which will be the
first such meeting in SAARC.

As current chair of the SAARC Working Groups on
Tourism and Bio-technology, Sri Lanka will host meetings of
these Working Groups in April and June this year.

The year 2009 will also see the operationalisation of
the SAARC Cultural Centre which will be located in Matara,
located 161 km from Colombo. PTI TVS