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Regional gathering calls for cooperation to defeat terrorism

Xinhua, August 5, 2016 Adjust font size:

A regional gathering in the Pakistani capital on Thursday underlined the need for enhanced cooperation to counter terrorism, cyber-crimes and drug smuggling in the region.

Ministers and top diplomats attended the interior ministers'day-long conference of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation or SAARC that "focused on a number of areas related to terrorism, narcotics, maritime piracy and other issues,"said a statement issued at the conclusion of the meeting.

SAARC groups Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, the Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

The participants called for cooperation among the member states to defeat terrorism, which they described as a threat to the security of the whole region.

Among others, the Ministers approved the recommendation of the Interior/Home Secretaries for issuing three years validity SAARC Visa Exemption Stickers to the Staff working at SAARC Secretariat, the statement said.

The meeting was attended by the Home Ministers of Bhutan, India and Sri Lanka and Deputy Home Ministers of Afghanistan, Maldives and Home Secretary of Nepal. Bangladesh was represented by its High Commissioner based in Islamabad.

The Sri Lankan delegation offered to host the 8th Interior / Home Ministers and Secretaries meeting. The Sri Lankan offer was welcomed by the Member states.

Prime Minister Nwaz Sharif told the opening session that Pakistan is fully committed to jointly working with the SAARC member states in fighting terrorism, corruption and organized crimes.

He said Pakistan has made"remarkable gains"against terrorism through major military operations and effective implementation of the anti-terror National Action Plan.

"These gains reflected the government's determination to eliminate the scourge of terrorism from its soil for good" he said, adding the interdependence calls for joint strategies to counter terrorism, narcotics trade, cyber-crimes and trafficking in women and children.

Earlier, the SAARC Secretary General Arjun Bahadur Thapa in his remarks said there was a need to take effective measures to tackle the issues of narcotics, terrorism, cyber-crimes and other transnational crimes.

He said"SAARC condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and said there was a need for effective cooperation among member countries to combat this menace."

Pakistani Interior Minister, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, told the gathering that terrorist activities are not only restricted to India, Afghanistan, or Bangladesh but scores of terrorist incidents taking place in Pakistan are equally condemnable if not more.

He said a series of major attacks including the army-run school, an university and a public park, where the innocent children and school teachers had been killed, could not be ignored. Endit