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Pact on counter-terrorism likely
| BIMSTEC Summit opens today in New Delhi; possibility of free trade agreement discussed |
ENHANCING TIES: External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee (fourth left) with his counterparts (from left) Nepal’s Upendra Yadav, Bhutan’s Khandu Wangchuk, Sri Lanka’s Rohitha Bogollagama, Myanmar’s Nyan Win, Bangladesh’s Iftekhar Ahmed Choudhury and Thailand’s Sukhumpong Ngonkam prior to their meeting in New Delhi on Wednesday.
NEW DELHI: Foreign Ministers of seven Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) countries held a brainstorming session on Wednesday to intensify economic ties and encourage the movement of people and resources.
They also explored the possibility of a free trade agreement (FTA) ahead of the summit meeting here on Thursday which is being held after four years.
Earlier, Foreign Secretaries of the member countries met on Tuesday and considered the possibility of setting up a permanent secretariat. They also discussed intra-regional cooperation in energy, agriculture and transportation besides trade, technology, tourism and counter-terrorism.
The summit could see the signing of four agreements, including a convention on counter-terrorism and transnational crimes and creating an energy centre. It will also take up the issue of seamless transport connectivity, an issue on which consensus had been eluding member countries due to reservations expressed by Bangladesh.
The pact on terrorism aims at closer coordination and intelligence-sharing and seeks to check financing of terrorism and trafficking in drugs. The pact may be similar to the one signed at the Colombo summit of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation earlier this year.
While President of Sri Lanka Mahenda Rajapaksa arrived on Tuesday, the other leaders landed here on Wednesday. Later in the day, Chief Adviser of Bangladesh Fakhruddin Ahmed held a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during which the regional situation, bilateral ties and Dhaka’s tryst with elections were discussed.
The Prime Minister then met his Myanmar counterpart, Thein Sein, followed by an interaction with Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda.’ On Thursday, Dr. Singh will hold bilateral meetings with Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wangsawat, Bhutanese Prime Minister Jigmi Thinley followed by an interaction with Mr. Rajapaksa.
Observing that an FTA is in the pipeline, Additional Secretary in the Ministry for External Affairs Yogendra Kumar said 13 priority sectors have been identified for immediate mutual cooperation. These areas include energy, agriculture, transportation and communication, trade investment, technology, tourism, public health, combating terror and people-to-people contacts, he said at a seminar organised by the country’s apex chambers of commerce.
The possibility of a tourist circuit could also be explored since most of the countries share common cultural links and Buddhist monuments.
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