|
|
 |
 |
| Sunday, 4 January 2004 |
 |
|
 |
News |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
|
SAARC seeks 'observer status' at UN Foreign Minister Tyronne Fernando has announced that the SAARC would seek Observer Status with the United Nations and this would give the organisation a higher profile at the world body. Fernando made this announcement at the 24th session of the Council of Ministers of the 12th SAARC Summit held at Islamabad, Pakistan on Friday. The Sri Lankan delegation to the Council was led by Minister Fernando and included Secretary Foreign Affairs Bernard A.B. Goonatilleke, and High Commissioner for Sri Lanka in Islamabad General C.S. Weerasooriya, as well as officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Commerce. The Council of Ministers began on a positive note relating to a number of important issues before the 12th SAARC Summit. The SAARC Social Charter is expected to be signed by the Heads of State or Government while progress was made on the ongoing deliberations relating to the conclusion of the South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA). Poverty Alleviation has been recognised as an over-arching goal of SAARC. The Co-convenors of the reconstituted Independent South Asian Commission on Poverty Alleviation (ISACPA) presented the Report of ISACPA to the Council of Ministers. The Regional Poverty Profile was also submitted to the Council by the Secretary General of SAARC, Mr. Q.A.M.A. Raheem. The Ministers will examine these important documents with a view to implementation. The First Ministerial meeting after the 12th Summit will be hosted in Sri Lanka, when the Finance and Planning Ministers of SAARC members will deliberate on implementation of these and other SAARC initiatives relating to poverty alleviation. One of the key achievements of the Standing Committee Session was the finalisation of the Additional Protocol to the SAARC Regional Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism. The Additional Protocol is based on a negotiating text prepared by Sri Lanka which was considered by a Meeting of Senior Officials and Legal Experts, in Colombo in August 2003. Several outstanding issues on the Protocol were resolved in Islamabad in what Minister Fernando described as a spirit of compromise and mutual accommodation. The Council recommended that the Protocol will be signed by the Foreign Ministers during the Summit. (AP) |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security Produced by Lake House |
