South Asian CEOs set to form regional grouping

NEW DELHI: South Asian corporate chiefs plan to launch a forum to push for free trade and investment in the region ahead of a seven-nation summit in Islamabad, an Indian trade leader said Friday.

Ajay Khanna, deputy director general of the Confederation of Indian Industry, said the chief executive officers will set up the forum by video conference and draft a joint statement for the seven nations' leaders.

"We want to build South Asia as a manufacturing and outsourcing hub for the world. We want to remove all barriers in the way of the tremendous intellectual talent here," he said.
"We are basically interested in a South Asian economic union which can be achieved by harmonising the industry standards," he said.

Khanna recommended a regional bank to mould economic policy, more cooperation in tourism and a lifting of restrictions on people's movement within the politically troubled region.

He added that close cooperation will enable the smaller South Asian nations to accelerate their economies as they would be able to tap into the vast Indian economy which in the second quarter saw booming 8.4 percent growth.

Pakistan ready to meet India: Kasuri

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is ready for bilateral meetings with rival India at this weekend's seven-nation regional summit, Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri said Friday.

"The ball is in India's court," Kasuri told reporters after attending a meeting of the foreign ministers of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka, which with Pakistan make up the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).

"It takes two to tango. You require a peace partner. We can't do it by ourselves." The 12th SAARC summit opening this Sunday presents the first chance for Indian and Pakistani leaders to come face to face since nearly going to war in 2002 after a deadly attack on India's parliament. New Delhi blamed the December 2001 attack on Pakistan-backed militants.

Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee is due to land in the capital Islamabad on Saturday for his first visit to Pakistan since his famous bus journey across the border in 1999.

He will have a chance to meet Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf on Sunday night when Musharraf hosts a banquet for all visiting SAARC heads of state. So far Vajpayee has not formally sought a separate meeting with Musharraf, as the five other visiting heads of state have done in accordance with SAARC summit traditions.

If the two do meet, formal discussions are not expected. Indian Foreign Secretary Shashank, who uses only one name, repeated Friday that "no meetings have been fixed."
Indian Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha said in the lead-up to the summit that food and weather may be the most they will discuss.

"They will meet, they will sit together, they will talk... maybe talk about the weather or maybe about food... but a summit on India-Pakistan relations, our policy is that we want to start the talks from below, not from the top," Sinha said last month.

Vajpayee-Jamali meeting still possible: Key Indian official

ISLAMABAD: Indian Foreign Minister, Yaswant Sinah, said on Friday that possibilities for one to one meeting of Indian premier, Atal Behari Vajpayee with his Pakistani counterpart, Mir Zaffarullah Khan Jamali or President Pervez Musharraf could not be ruled out, source informed. 

Prior to a crucial meeting of foreign ministers of SAARC member countries, Mr. Yaswant Sinah said while talking to newsmen, “So far meeting between Indian and Pakistani prime ministers has not been worked out; hence, hopes of one to one meeting between the leaders of two sides still floats.” He the meeting happened, it would be conventional one, he told.

Era of development, peace in SA possible: Kasuri

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister, Khurshid Kasuri, said on Friday to begin era of development and peace in the South Asia is not really impossible, said a report.

He was addressing a meeting after he was elected chairman of SAARC Ministerial Council here in Islamabad.

Former Nepalese Chairman of the SAARC Ministerial Council handed over responsibility to his Pakistan counterpart Mr. Kasuri.

Hailing SAARC summit Mr. Kasuri said in his address, “Holding of the summit is welcome move and we should proceed towards our set objectives as spelt out in the SAARC charter."

South Asia's FMs hammer out agreements ahead of landmark summit

ISLAMABAD: South Asia's foreign ministers sat down Friday to finalise draft pacts on free trade, terrorism and poverty alleviation to be signed at a landmark regional summit starting this weekend, an official said, Geo news channel reported.

Expanding an existing regional terror pact, hammering out the draft South Asia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) and an agreement on fighting poverty in one of the world’s most populous and poorest regions topped the agenda. A SAARC social charter and other social development issues would also be discussed, Pakistan's foreign ministry spokesman Masood Khan said.

The foreign ministers of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal arrived in Islamabad late on Thursday, ahead of the SAARC two-day Council of Ministers meeting. The foreign ministers of the Maldives and Sri Lanka arrived in Islamabad Friday.

South Asia agrees on free trade pact, ready for signing: Ministers 

ISLAMABAD: A key South Asia trade pact that could transform one of the world's poorest and most populous regions into a free trade zone has been agreed upon, ministers announced Friday ahead of a seven-nation summit.

The South Asia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) has been under negotiation for months in an effort to forge a free trade area among South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) states.

Ministers of SAARC member states Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka agreed on the document on the first day of their two-day pre-summit meeting.

"Yes we have recommended to the heads (of state and government) an agreed framework on SAFTA," Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri announced after the meeting. 

SAARC foreign secretaries conclude talks on agenda

ISLAMABAD: Foreign secretaries from the seven South Asian countries Thursday concluded talks on formulating an agenda for the upcoming regional summit, including an additional protocol on combating terrorism, the chairman of the meeting said.

Pakistani foreign secretary Riaz Khokhar who chaired the two-day deliberations told reporters the text of the anti-terrorism protocol was cleared for consideration and approval by the council of ministers of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).

The foreign ministers of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are meeting on Friday and Saturday to finalise documents for the 12th SAARC summit to be held January 4-6 in Islamabad.

"We are very mindful of all our obligations for combating terrorism in all its forms and manifestations," Khokhar said.

The protocol, which specifically deals with preventing the flow of funds into the hands of terrorist groups and individuals, is aimed at strengthening and updating the existing SAARC convention on suppression of terrorism signed by the member states in 1987.

"We are also very mindful of our vital interest," he said, adding that the foreign secretary-level meeting prepared recommendations and documents on a social charter, proposed a South Asia Free Trade Area (SAFTA) and poverty alleviation in the light of suggestions made by an independent South Asian Commission.

Indian FM arrives in Islamabad for SAARC deliberations

ISLAMABAD: Indian Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha arrived here Thursday to participate in preparatory work for the 12th summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC), Geo news channel reported.

He will attend a two-day meeting of the council of ministers of the regional grouping, which includes Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

The SAARC foreign ministers will start deliberations on Friday to finalize documents for the three-day summit opening here on Sunday amid tight security. Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee is scheduled to arrive 
Saturday.

Islamabad airport will remain closed to facilitate flights for SAARC summit

KARACHI: Islamabad airport will remain closed on January 3, 2004 between 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., to facilitate the arrival of VVIP flights in connection with SAARC Summit being held in Islamabad.

The airport will again remain closed on January 4, 2004 between  2 a.m. to 10 a.m., according to an official announcement here Wednesday. 

Keeping in view the closure of Islamabad airport, PIA has readjusted all schedule flights operating to and from Islamabad  during the specified timings.

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