SAARC - Actualités
Dhaka Says not to Be Mediator in India-Pakistan Disputes (Xinhua Dhaka, 7/8/99)
Bangladesh would like to play pro-active diplomacy with the firm belief that the irritants of the region could be solved peacefully, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Abul Hasan Chowdhury said here Saturday. Bangladesh's role would not be as a mediator or to solve problems trilaterally but to bring India and Pakistan together for removing their disputes, Chowdhury told a roundtable on "Security Perception in South Asian Region and Beyond," organized by the Bangladesh Institute of Law and International Affairs. Speaking on the occasion, Fisheries and Livestock Minister A.S.M. Abdur Rob stressed the need for forging consensus on the issue of security in South Asia and urged all countries concerned to shun arms races in the region.
He suggested formation of a joint arms monitoring team to keep the weaponry within limit, resolve quickly bilateral problems, face the challenges of poverty through SAARC (the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation)  and use the water resources, human resources and natural resources under joint management for the benefits of the people of the region.
Parliamentarian Dr. Moyeen Khan suggested that Bangladesh should not get involved in the conflicts between India and
Pakistan, describing such a move as "dangerous." The existing conflicts between these two countries including the Kashmir
issue should be resolved bilaterally, he said. Advocating making South Asia a nuclear-weapon-free zone,
speakers at the roundtable discussion said the region was now sitting on two dangerous bombs -- atomic bomb and
"poverty bomb" and suggested the replacement of these two enemies of human civilization with "peace bombs of
development and progress" to make the region nuclear-free. It would be unrealistic to think about the security perception
of South Asia by ignoring the strong "poverty bomb" and the destructive nuclear bomb, they said. The recent events in Kargil between Pakistan and India dominated the roundtable discussion, with most of the speakers advocating a peaceful settlement of the issue through dialogue between the two countries. The roundtable discussion was attended by government
ministers, members of parliament, academics, diplomats and others.

Saarc nations begin work on common WTO agenda (Business Standard 11/07/ 99) 
The Saarc countries yesterday began work on a common agenda for negotiations with the World Trade Organisations (WTO). Union commerce minister Ramakrishna Hegde set the tone for the three-day meeting of commerce secretaries of Saarc nations by deploring attempts by developed countries to take up fresh negotiations before full implemention of the existing WTO agreements.
"The very concept of a new round frightens many of us. We are yet to recover from the hangover of the Uruguay round. Many of the implications of the commitments we had undertaken during the Uruguay round are only now beginning to be absorbed by industry," Hegde said.
This is the first serious attempt by the seven Saarc countries to forge a common strategy for the ministerial round of WTO in Seatle, US, in November. In his keynote address, Hegde said the repeated efforts of developed countries to erect new nowtrade barriers need to be "fought collectively’ by the Saarc countries. He expressed concern over attempts by certain developed countires to circumvent rulings of panels and appellate body of the WTO. Hegde said developing countries were yet to recover from the Uruguay round of negotiations, and added that they were not yet prepared for another round of talks and the plethora of new obligations it was bound to spawn.Government organisations in developing countries including the Indian mission in Geneva, and industry were not equipped to handle another round of delicate negotiations, he said.
Hegde also questioned the logic of the new round of negotiations when some countries were yet to become members of the WTO. "The accession negotiations have been going on for too long. It is important that they also become members of the WTO so that a larger round of negotiations acquires full meaning," he said.