Convene SAARC summit soon: citizens' panel

KATHMANDU, DEC. 3. The first meeting of the Citizens' Commission for South Asia here today called for the early convening of the postponed 11th summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).

``The Commission stresses the need to reconvene the summit and other meetings and for creating a conducive atmosphere for this purpose... The Commission is of the view that the schedule of the SAARC summit and other meetings as envisaged in the charter should be maintained,'' a four-page press release said at the end of the three-day meet. The 11th SAARC summit, scheduled to be held here in November last year, was put off at India's request following the coup in Pakistan.

Deputising for the former Prime Minister, Mr. I. K. Gujral, who was hospitalised after complaining of chest pain, the former Pakistan Foreign Minister, Mr. Sartaj Aziz, told reporters at the conclusion of the CCSA meeting that the ``unilateral ceasefire announced by India in Jammu and Kashmir during the holy month of Ramzan and the announcement of restraint on the Line of Control by Pakistan are both good news.''

Twentythree persons from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka met here over three days and unanimously adopted the four-page declaration.

``The commission shares the widespread concern over the SAARC's slow progress since its inception ... the SAARC has not had a summit level meeting since the 10th Colombo summit in July, 1998,'' the declaration noted.

``The Commission express great anguish over the continuing political tensions in the region which have hampered purposeful and cohesive cooperative efforts,'' the statement said. The Commission also called for the finalisation and operationalisation of the SAFTA (South Asian Free Trade Area) by the agreed deadline of December, 2001.

It further asked the SAARC member-states to ``evolve common positions, where possible, on issue in a globalised economic order and a newly emerging economic architecture.'' ``We want to create a moral pressure by strengthening civil society,'' Mr. Aziz said. - UNI

Gujral hospitalised

KATHMANDU, DEC. 3. The former Prime Minister, Mr. Inder Kumar Gujral, here in connection with the first meeting of the Citizen's Commission for South Asia, took ill early today and hospitalised. Mr. Gujral, 81, arrived here on Friday for the inaugural meeting of the CCSA, of which he is the chairman, and had been maintaining a hectic schedule since then.

Doctors at the Norvic Heart and Research Centre, where he was taken after he complained of chest pain, said he had high blood pressure when he was admitted but his condition had ``stablised'' and ``there is no cause for concern''. Cardiologists from the Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre, New Delhi were expected to arrive late in the evening by a ``special aircraft''.

According to the doctors, Mr. Gujral, an old asthma patient, has no history of cardiac ailment. The former Prime Minister was scheduled to return home tomorrow afternoon.

- UNI

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