Terrorism poses serious threat to the peace and security of the region and urgent steps must be taken to eliminate the menace in all its forms and manifestations, concluded the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation interior minister’s conference here on Saturday.
“The interior ministers of the Saarc countries reaffirmed the commitment to further strengthen cooperation to fight and eradicate terrorism in all its forms and manifestations”, a statement released after the conference said. “The member countries emphasised the importance of a coordinated and concerted response to combat terrorism,” it added.
The Saarc interior/home ministers’ moot approved all proposals with consensus. Pakistan interior minister Rehman Malik presided over the moot. Mr Malik later told media said that India has also expressed satisfaction over the proposals.
“The conference agreed over coordinated regional effort against terrorism, boosting cooperation and contacts and intelligence sharing and taking steps to curb money laundering and human smuggling,” he said. He called for setting up a regional mechanism to prevent crimes like the Interpol at the international level. He said a Saarc police system proposed by Pakistan will help in information sharing.
Mr Chidambaram earlier called Pakistan efforts against terrorism satisfactory while speaking in the conference. Mr Chidambaram mainly focused on terrorism, calling the Saarc member nations to join hands against the menace.
“The regional countries facing formidable security threat,” he said calling for a joint effort to curb the threat. Mr Chidmbaram assured of all-out support against terror. The interior ministers’ meeting discussed and adopted a joint strategy to eliminate terrorism. A joint declaration was finalised in the conference, carrying 27 ratified points to eliminate terrorism.
Interior secretaries of the Saarc countries had already agreed on a 15-point agenda besides bolstering cooperation against terror and recommending the establishment of a networking system between the police chiefs of the member countries.