Going ahead with its avowed objective of moving from the declaratory to the implementation stage, the meeting of SAARC foreign ministers on December 7 and 8 is expected to give concrete shape to projects in the transport and medicine sectors.

From India’s point of view, the 1,100-km Birganj-Katihar-Chittagong rail link and air connectivity between New Delhi and Islamabad and New Delhi and Male top the list. The proposed rail corridor between Colombo and Chennai with a ferry crossing in between and the ferry link between Kochi and Colombo are also under discussion.

The proposals have been studied by the Asian Development Bank. The member countries were considering the security aspects, economic viability and the benefits of these transport links. A meeting of SAARC transport ministers last month had discussed connectivity and the need to upgrade Customs-related equipment at land transit points.

“We hope the council meeting can look at these and move towards implementation,” Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon said, outlining the agenda of the SAARC foreign ministers meet that begins here on Friday. The meeting will look at implementation, course correction and plan for the next Summit, he said.

On air connectivity, Menon said that with national carriers from both countries citing a shortage of aircraft, India and Pakistan are looking at roping in private carriers. The civil aviation authorities of both Indian Airlines and PIA are discussing the matter. The two countries have agreed in principle to the air link.

The foreign secretary referred to better connectivity, Regional Food Bank Agreement, South Asian University and an Investor Protector Agreement as the areas that were identified for action at the SAARC Summit held here in April. “We have talked to each other and established the outlines of several projects,” the Foreign Secretary said. He pointed out that most members had completed the groundwork for tele-medicine and even identified hospitals that can be part of the network. The SAARC Development Fund was very close to finalisation.

... contd.