Share this story!            

India to support Afghanistan’s entry into SAARC

DHAKA: India said on Tuesday that it will support Afghanistan’s entry into the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) at the organisation’s summit in Dhaka this weekend.

“We will welcome Afghanistan as a member of SAARC,” India’s Junior Foreign Minister E Ahamed, who will represent India at the SAARC Ministerial Meeting, was quoted as telling the Press Trust of India.

All SAARC members must agree before Afghanistan can be admitted. The prospect of Afghanistan’s inclusion was flagged during a visit by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Afghanistan in August. An Indian Foreign Ministry statement said that three trade agreements were expected to be signed at the summit.

Other issues on the summit agenda are combating terrorism, poverty alleviation and cooperation in the aftermath of natural calamities, the Bangladesh foreign minister said on Tuesday.

Bangladesh will provide unprecedented security for the two-day summit beginning on Saturday, Foreign Minister M Morshed Khan said. “Terrorism is now a global scourge, and bilateral, regional and global cooperation is necessary to combat it,” the minister said.

Bangladesh, which has been hit by a wave of bombings by Islamist militants in recent months, has vowed “foolproof” security for the summit. The bombings on August 17 and October 3 killed four people and wounded at least 115, and the government holds the outlawed Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen mainly responsible. Authorities have deployed more than 30,000 police and soldiers to patrol streets and guard key buildings in Dhaka, including the SAARC summit venue and a five-star hotel where South Asian leaders will stay.

Khan said that cooperation among regional countries was also necessary to rebuild lives after disasters such as the tsunami, floods and earthquakes that have devastated South Asia over the last year and a half.

The summit has been postponed twice this year – first in January following the Indian Ocean tsunami and again in February after India declined to attend, citing security fears in Dhaka. agencies

Home | National

Share this story!