The Ambassadors and'High Commissioners of SAARC cou ntrles to Bangladesh at a discussion meeting In the cap Itai yesterday said the SAARC was moving in the right direc tion but contentious bilateral issues sometimes hindered the process

Pakistan s High Commis sioner Anwar Kamal said the security problems and slow process were hindering the progress of the sewn nanon South Asian Association for . Regional Cooperation

"We must try to resolve our I disputes he told the meeting held at Hotel Sheraton adding

We should move faster than now otherwise we will lag be hind "

Indian High f ommissioner K Raghunath said Economic cooperation is the best way of resolving problems and we are going in the righr direction through the South Asian Preferential Trading Arrangement । SAPTAI

The High Commissioner of Shri Lanka Dr Ahmed Nasz Haniffa the Ambassador of Nepal Lok Bahadur Shrestha Ambassador of Bhutan Tashi Tobgyei and Bangladesh for eign ministry official Ashfaqur Rahman said at the meeting

that satisfactory progress has been made in line wilh the SAARC c harter and within the limited resources of the mem ber countries

The Rotary Club of Dhaka organised the discussion on SAARC Expectations and Realities

There was no represents Uvc from the Maldives as Male has no mission in Dhaka

Rotary District Governor Magfur Uddin Ahmed presided over i he discussion meeting which was conducted by the president of the club Ozair Farooq Anwar Kamal said. If there is security problem then cooperation among the member countries becomes rather difficult."

He said such issues hindered people-to-people contact which was needed for better cooperation.

Referring to his Indian counterpart's ' proposal for economic cooperation he said, contentious issues would always hamper such cooperation.

Anwar Kamal suggested that bilateral issues should be seriously taken up outside the SAARC forum.

He said. South Asia has tremendous potentials but the region is facing economic problems and lagging behind . countries like Indonesia. Malaysia and South Korea.

. ’’Our leaders have identified the problems- and some progress has been made,'' the Pakistani diplomat said, adding: "But we need to find out what should be done now to expedite our development."

Indian High Commissioner Raghunath said the SAARC should work as a disciplined and business-like organisation in accordance with Its charter.

Terming the South Asian Preferential Trading Arrangement as a very important document, he said economic cooperation was the best way of resolving bilateral problems/

India, he said . has already provided lists of items to bring the SAPTA into effect. A meeting would shortly be held in Male for further talks on the matter

About certain decisions already token by the SAARC countries. Raghunath said: "We are moving in the right direction."

The Director-General (SAARC) of the Bangladesh Foreign Ministry. Ashfaqur Rahman said, the organisation followed a go-slow policy in the beginning but significant progress was made during the past few years.

The SAARC Secretariat In Kathmandu, the Agricultural Information Centre in Dhaka, the SAARC audio-visual exchange programme (SAVE), exchange of fellowships and scholarships and the SAARC meteorological centre are some of the few notable achleyemehts of the regional forum, he mentioned.

He said, a SAARC Chambers of Commerce and Industry is expected to be announced on February 7. which, he bald, would be another achievement of the seven-nation forum, floated In Dhaka in 1985.

He also said that because of the SAARC. the Information gap between the member countries has been bridged to a great extent.

. The other speakers identified the poverty alleviation programme taken by the SAARC nations as a very positive steps, aimed at the welfare on the people of the region.

They also opined that although the SAARC charter bars discussion on bilateral issues in formal meetings of the forum, yet the occasion often provides scope for bilateral discussion.