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Chandrika to voice opposition to sub-regional groupings

Sugeeswara Senadhira, writes from Colombo
Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga will support the view of the Pakistani and Maldivian leaders that establishment of sub-regional groupings within the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) could adversely affect the re-Sonal forum, officials said in olombo Monday.
The three leaders are expected to put forward this view during the retreat at the picturesque Kurumba Island tomorrow morning before the concluding session of the SAARC summit in Male on Wednesday.
According to senior government sources, Mrs Kumaratunga will not directly refer to the issue of sub-regional groupings at her inaugural speech but would raise it during the leaders' retreat.
"We believe that the sub-regional grouping could be a hurdle to SAARC because the’mem-ber nations of the sub-regional group may give top priority to implementation of the programmes of that group, thus pushing the SAARC programmes to the back seat." a senior official said.
He admitted that Sri Lanka had for a while toyed with the idea of joining the sub-regional group comprising India. Nepal. Bangladesh and Bhutan. "But later we came to the conclusion
that all our energies should be reserved to push forward regional cooperation under the SAARC banner," the senior official told IANS before emplaning for Male.
India has accepted the Sri Lankan proposal that in the case of any country joining or forming any sub-regional grouping comprising two or more SAARC members, the forum should be kept informed of such developments. At the Foreign Secretary level meeting, the Sri Lankan proposal was accepted as a consensus formula after India tried to defend its role in the proposed subgrouping, against which Pakistan and Maldives, together with Sri Lanka, expressed strong reservations, the official stated.
India maintained that the four-nation sub-regional council was only for region specific joint projects, but later agreed to the Srl Lankan proposal.
Sri Lankan officials said it was difficult to accept Bangladesh State Minister for Foreign Affairs Abdul Hasan Chowdhury's assertion that the sub-regional group would not undermine SAARC and would only help further the SAARC spirit. "We feel it is perfectly all right to enter into any bilateral arrangements by SAARC members." an official said. "But
when there are sub-regional arrangements by four SAARC members, it could undermine the regional forum."
He hastily explained that Sri Lanka has no intention whatsoever to gang up against a member. "We will always make efforts to discuss these issues and find a consensus formula," he said.
He said Sri Lanka had excellent relations with India and any issue "could be discussed because of the excellent understanding between the two countries" which he described as "at its zenith".
"Hence there is no question of any misunderstanding between Colombo and New Delhi over this issue,” the official said.
President Kumaratunga will seek Indian Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral's support for Sri Lanka’s proposal to host the next SAARC summit in Colombo in 1998 to coincide with the country’s 50th anniversary of Independence. According to the schedule. Nepal is to host the summit next year and it will be Pakistan's turn in 1999. Sri Lanka will get Its chance only in the year 2000.
President Kumaratunga is expected to discuss this with the leaders of both Pakistan and Nepal.
— India Abroad News Service