Katunayake attack annoys India
Manjula Fernando reporting from New Delhi
Sri Lanka's North East conflict and the threat posed by LTTE's air
capabilities are expected to figure prominently in the 14th South Asian
Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit which will be
inaugurated by the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at "Vigyan
Bhavan" on Tuesday.
Talking to reporters last week in Delhi, Indian Foreign Secretary
Shiv Shankar Menon said "We have made it clear to everyone that we are
very concerned at the escalated violence in Sri Lanka and the air strike
is one aspect of it,". The statement marked India's first official
reaction to the LTTE's aerial attack on the Katunayake airbase.
Menon said the escalation of violence in Sri Lanka will figure
prominently at the SAARC sessions.
Newspapers here reported, India which hosts the landmark sessions
this year, is expected to call for collective action against terrorism
in the region and push for greater economic cooperation among its
partners at the land mark sessions of the regional grouping which will
see the inclusion of Afghanistan as its newest member.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa will lead the Sri Lankan delegation to
Delhi for the main sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday. Foreign Minister
Rohitha Bogollagama will be here to attend the two day SAARC Foreign
Minister's, meeting which will be inaugurated today.
On Sri Lanka's point of view the Foreign Minister will push for
speedy implementation of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership
Agreement (CEPA) between India and Sri Lanka for which the work is
already progressing while he will call upon all its members for
integrated action in fighting terrorism in all its manifestations.
In the SAARC general agenda there will be discussions towards
setting-up of a South Asian University. SAARC leaders will discuss the
modalities of the project to make the proposed university the best in
the world that attract best students and best faculty'. An
inter-governmental agreement is to be signed first to form the
university, before the details of this institute are worked out,
newspapers quoting the Foreign Secretary said.
Other important intra-regional projects that will be discussed
include SAARC Development Fund, Regional Telemedicine Network and
Regional Food Bank.
The Summit will also see the presence of the US, the European Union,
China, Japan and South Korea as observers for the first time in its
history. China, Japan and South Korea will be represented by their
foreign ministers. The US will be represented by Richard Boucher,
Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama arrived in New Delhi
last night to attend the SAARC Foreign Ministers' meeting which will
begin today ahead of the SAARC summit. He was received by Minister of
State for External Affairs Anand Sharma at the Indira Gandhi
International Airport.
The Minister will hold bi-lateral talks with Indian External Affairs
Minister Pranab Mukherjee this evening.
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