Bangladesh proposes South Asia military cooperation

Bangladesh proposes South Asia military cooperation

Aug 03, 2008 (BBC Monitoring via COMTEX) -- Bangladesh has urged other South Asian leaders to work out a roadmap to fight against poverty and hunger and achieve accelerated economic and social growth to the benefits of the people. "South Asia is home to almost a half of the world's poor. Global economic slowdown, soaring oil and food prices and growing threats of climate change are driving the destitute people of the region even further below the poverty line," the chief adviser to Bangladesh's interim government, Fakhruddin Ahmed, said addressing the 15th SAARC [South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation] summit in Colombo. The two-day gathering of the heads of the government or the state of SAARC began at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall on Saturday. Fakhruddin said, "It is incumbent on us who have gathered here today to clearly chart out a roadmap for SAARC for greater prosperity and welfare of the peoples of the South Asia." He said, "We must redouble our efforts to attain the SAARC Development Goals within the targeted timeline. I believe national action on poverty alleviation should be complemented by effective and robust regional initiatives in order to have a penetrative impact on poverty reduction in South Asia." The Bangladesh leader also stressed the need for cooperation to develop short- and long-term action to address food security, fight against terrorism, explore alternative sources for energy, face challenges of climate change and increase trade for the establishment of the South Asian Economic Union. In his speech, the head of Bangladesh's interim government, backed by the army, proposed working out a mechanism among the armed forces of the region to advance the mutual interest, including training facilities. Referring to Bangladesh's proposal at the SAARC Council of Minister's Meeting on 31 July in Colombo, he said, "Bangladesh has suggested a methodology for structured contacts between our armed forces. Such links exist at the bilateral level. Together we provide a huge majority of the world's peacekeepers. I believe it may be worthwhile to devise such a system that can periodically bring senior officers of our military forces together to determine how best we can advance our mutual interests. We may also share training facilities under this scheme." Fakhruddin said food crisis because of recent global price spiral led the region to find out a collective solution to tackle food security. He said, "We need to develop strategies, not only to address short-term supply side stocks, but also to strengthen cooperation to increase agricultural productivity. I would stress early ratification and activation of the SAARC Food Bank to address the situation." On the issue of terrorism, he said, "The deadly fangs of terrorism are spreading across the region. They threaten to disrupt peace and democracy. We must combat the menace of terrorism across the broadest possible spectrum." He expressed his satisfaction at the plan signing of the anti-terror deal, SAARC Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters, on Sunday and felt the legal instrument would be an important tool for the members for an effective and meaningful cooperation in fight against all serious and organised crimes. Fakhruddin said South Asia witnessed a tremendous increase in demand for energy because of high growth in the region and energy played a key role in economic, social and human development, including in poverty alleviation. Against the backdrop of such energy requirement, he said the region might explore all the avenues - bilateral, sub-regional and regional cooperation - to harness renewable sources of energy such as hydro-power, solar power, bio-fuel and wind to address energy crisis. He said, "We should strive to develop conventional and alternate sources of energy to ensure steady energy supply at an affordable cost." Regarding climate change, considered an issue of major concern in recent times, he said, "In South Asia, global warming is rendering natural disasters frequent and more intense, causing greater damage and devastation to lives and livelihood." "We must bear in mind that it is our collective responsibility to save our planet for the present and futurity," Fakhruddin said. Touching on the issue of trade, he said despite SAFTA [South Asia Free Trade Agreement] being in place, non-tariff and para-tariff barriers, and complicated and cumbersome customs procedures stand in the way of greater intra-regional trade. He pointed out that a long, sensitive list close to preferential tariffs and rigidities in other structural and policy frameworks stood in the way of people's desire for a fully-integrated South Asia. Fakhruddin said, "Clearly there is a need to remove such hurdles to enhance intra-regional trade." He also pointed out that the intra-regional investment flows were very small in South Asia. Given the right kind of environment and confidence, the potential for increased intra-regional investment is huge. "I feel that restrictive investment regime is one of the inhibiting factors in attracting foreign direct investments. In this context, it is important that the draft agreement on promotion and protection of investments is finalised at the earliest," he said. Source: New Age website, Dhaka, in English 03 Aug 08 BBC Mon SA1 SAsPol smm