13 September 2007: New Delhi

NEW DELHI: India on Wednesday called for a conclave of home ministers from all eight SAARC countries here next month to formulate a coordinated and joint strategy to fight terrorism.

The two-day moot opening on October 23 will devise measures to harmonise national laws and procedures and a mechanism to exchange intelligence to deal with the terror menace, the Home Ministry announced.

Ministry sources said the meeting was important in the backdrop of the recent Hyderabad bombings, presumed carried out by terrorists based in Pakistan and Bangladesh.

India will press the Pakistan and Bangladesh governments to show a “sincere and meaningful cooperation in fighting terrorism,” the sources said.

A proposal India pushed in April at the South Asian Association for Region Cooperation summit to establish a SAARC convention on mutual assistance in criminal matters is likely to figure in the upcoming meeting.

In the April summit in Delhi, SAARC leaders adopted a resolution pledging to work together to overcome the challenges posed by terrorism and the October meeting will give a practical shape to that pledge, the sources said.

Source: Daily Times