From rxpgnews.com
India for greater people-to-people contact in SAARC
By IANS,
Mar 21, 2007 - 6:48:53 PM
New Delhi, March 21 - India will host the first summit of an expanded SAARC April 3-4 that will see Afghanistan joining the regional grouping as its eighth member and the participation of five observers for the first time in the history of the 22-year-old bloc.
Connectivity - physical, economic and emotional - will be the binding theme of the 14th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation - summit.
New Delhi last hosted the eighth SAARC summit in 1995.
A joint declaration at the end of the summit will formalise Afghanistan's entry into the regional body, external affairs ministry spokesperson Navtej Sarna told reporters here Wednesday.
The US, Japan, China, the European Union and South Korea will also attend the SAARC summit as observers for the first time.
Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso and US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Richard Boucher have already confirmed their attendance. China and South Korea are likely to be represented by their foreign ministers.
The observers will be present at the opening and closing session where they can make a brief speech.
The focus at the 14th SAARC summit is on energising SAARC and converting it from what is seen as a document-producing talk shop into an action-oriented instrument for creating a South Asian identity through a slew of collaborative projects.
'The time has come to move from confabulations and deliberations to the implementation of collaborative projects,' Preeti Saran, joint secretary in the ministry of external affairs, told reporters here.
India will push for greater connectivity in South Asia in terms of enhanced rail, road and air links, the elimination of trade barriers and freer flow of ideas, she underlined.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had presented a set of concrete intra-regional projects at the 13th SAARC summit in Dhaka in 2005 that included South Asia Development Fund, Disaster Management Centre, Regional Food Bank and SAARC museum of textiles and handicrafts.
The priority of the South Indian leaders at the 14th summit here will be to give flesh and blood to these innovative ideas.
Preparations for the SAARC summit - a major regional event - are already underway with diplomats working overtime to see everything is in place and working out arrangements for a series of bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the meet.
A series of events will be held in the run-up to the summit that includes the meetings of the council of ministers -, standing committee at the level of foreign secretaries - and the programme committee on March 30.
A cultural programme that will showcase performances by artistes from all eight countries will be organised by the Indian Council of Cultural Relations - April 2.
A group of prominent editors from the region has also been invited by the government for a conversation with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
The SAARC car rally flashing the motto 'Connecting people and Strengthening ties', which was launched March 15 from Cox's Bazaar in Bangladesh, re-entered India Wednesday and headed for a night halt at Guwahati on way to Nepal.
A reception will be organised to welcome the rally at India Gate here April 2 and will be flagged off from Vigyan Bhavan next day.
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