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Draft Bimstec convention to combat terrorism, crime

Pallab Bhattacharya, New Delhi
Echoing Bangladesh's concern over the increasing criminal activi-Oes in the region, Bimstec foreign ministers adopted a draft conven-bon on combating international terrorism, trans-border organised crime and drug trafficking in New Delhi yesterday.
In a joint statement following a daylong meeting, they hoped to finalise the draft in time for the Bimstec heads of state and government to sign it at their New Delhi summit m November
Eoreign Affairs Adviser Iftekhar ,,'™d ^o^dhury told the meet S ~ criminal activi-
andS»T|threaU re6*onai peace ano stability.
He Mid Bangladesh "U commit-
ted to dealing with the issues firmly and decisively and the draft Bimstec convention...once finalised and concluded, would be an important tool at our disposal to deal with this menace effectively".
Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama said the Bimstec convention on terrorism would follow the pattern of the Saarc one adopted in Colombo last month.
Earlier on Thursday, Iftekhar discussed the menace with India’s External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee at a bilateral meeting. He later said the two countries would cooperate In dealing with the problem.
Terrorism and trans-border crimes are also high on the agenda at the ninth home secretary level
talks between Bangladesh and India that began in Dhaka yesterday.
The ministerial meeting also agreed to set up a regional weather and climate centre and an energy centre in India.
Proposing to host a permanent Bimstec secretariat in Dhaka, Iftekhar said the people of Bangladesh will see it as an acknowledgement of their relentless contributions to regional cooperation and peaceful collaboration with neighbours for development.
Bangladesh, he pointed out, has been in the forefront of all efforts to institutionalise regional cooperation.
The meeting agreed to set up a joint working group to consider all aspects including organisational structure, financing mechanism and staffing relating to the Bimstec secretariat.
Iftekhar called for demonstrating necessary flexibility and mutual accommodation so that the Bimstec Free Trade Agreement (FTA), originally scheduled to come into effect by July 2006, could be concluded soon.
He said the FTA would be a "more meaningful instrument in contributing towards increasing intra-regional trade only if we are able to remove and dismantle all tariff and non-tariff barriers."
Bangladesh, he said, would announce a dale for a trade-minister level meeting once the agreement is finalised. He asked the Trade Negotiation Committee to wrap up their negotiations at the earliest.
The meeting agreed to conclude the negotiations for the proposed FTA preferably before the New Delhi summit in November.
The adviser also suggested setting up a food bank among Bimstec countries on the model of a similar Saarc mechanism and called for a second Green Revolution to tackle rising food prices and food shortages in the region.
UNB adds: Bangladesh has proposed direct road links connecting itself with Myanmar andThailand.
Foreign Adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury made the proposal during meetings with Myanmar Foreign Minister U Nyan Win and Thai Foreign Minister Tej Bunnag in New Dellii yesterday, said a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Dhaka.