CHIDAMBARAM-PAK 2LST

On Saturday, Chidambaram will join his counterparts from
Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan
and Maldives at the South Asian Association for Regional
Cooperation (SAARC) Interior Ministers' conference.
Strengthening of police cooperation will be high on the
agenda of the conference during which India is expected to
press for visible collaboration by member countries in the
fight against terrorism.
The conference will deliberate on ways to implement
police networking and exchange of information, sources said.
A mechanism for police cooperation is already in place
for the last two years but it has not really taken off, the
sources said, adding India will underscore the need for making
it an effective tool to fight the menace of terrorism
afflicting South Asia.
India is also expected to press for early ratification
by Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nepal of the SAARC Mutual Legal
Assistance agreement on criminal matters to ensure that
terrorism is combated effectively.
The agreement was reached at the SAARC Summit in Colombo
in 2008.
India is expected to underscore that if any country is
serious about fighting terrorism, its cooperation should be
visible in terms of information-sharing and other aspects.
The conference will also discuss ways to strengthen the
Colombo-based SAARC Terror Offences Monitoring Desk and Drug
Offences Monitoring Desk, which are the nodal agencies for
fight against these scourge.
A new proposal for maritime security and anti-piracy
under the SAARC format will also be discussed. The proposal
has been mooted by Sri Lanka and Maldives.
The conference will also discuss issues related to SAARC
visas in the backdrop of proposals for expanding this category
of travel documents.
At present MPs, judges, 100 identified business leaders,
sports persons and 150 journalists are availing SAARC Visa
facility.
This will be reviewed at the upcoming conference.
India is open to the idea of liberalisation of visas to
enable more people-to-people contacts but underlines the need
to keep security interests in mind. PTI AKK
RDM


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