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Foreign Minister M Morshed Khan dismissed any adverse impact of the New Delhi bomb blasts on next month's SAARC summit in Dhaka and said that the South Asian nations can jointly fight against terrorism, reports UNB
"We want to work together as we are determined to eliminate terrorism from our region and the globe," he said responding to queries of diplomatic correspondents at the Foreign Ministry this Sunday afternoon, a day after the serial bombings in the Indian capital.
Describing the terror strike as a "heinous and unfortunate" incident, Khan said SAARC leaders at the summit on November 12-13 could effectively discuss the issue of terrorism.
However, the Foreign Minister viewed that terrorism could be effectively dealt with if the SAARC Additional Protocol on Suppression of Terrorism was implemented by the member-states. The 12th summit in Islamabad endorsed the Protocol, but several countries had not yet ratified the instrument.
Bangladesh, India, Bhutan and the Maldives have ratified the pact, which now needs ratification by three other members for putting into effect for a common combat against acts of terrorism.
Meanwhile, host Bangladesh is giving final touches to the draft of Dhaka Declaration to be adopted at next month's SAARC summit, focussing on the urgency of evolving effective means to tackle terrorism and natural disaster-two new challenges facing the forum.
The Declaration will be placed for approval of the SAARC leaders on the concluding day of the 2-day conference on November 13, official sources said.
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