Pakistan proposes SAARC police force
* Protests discrimination at Indian airports
* India pushing for new laws to curtail terror financing

By Iftikhar Gilani

NEW DELHI: Pakistan has proposed that the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) set up a police force similar to Interpol to aid investigations and prevent crime in the eight-nation grouping. The initiative was suggested at an expert-level meeting held here on Tuesday to formulate an agenda for Thursday’s second meeting of interior and home ministers of SAARC countries.

Pakistan’s representative at the meeting, Dr Shoaib Siddle, called for the establishment of the police network between the SAARC countries and also raised the issue of “dishonouring” of SAARC visa stickers by immigration authorities of nations in the region.

Pakistan discriminated against: Dr Siddle complained to the meeting that Pakistani delegates for SAARC meetings were subjected to rigorous immigration checks at Indian airports despite bearing the SAARC visa exemption stickers. He said the delegates were also prevented from visiting any site that they had not been specifically allowed to visit. Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Sherpao will arrive here on Wednesday to participate in the ministerial-level meeting.

India pushes: Meanwhile, India, currently the chair of SAARC, is lobbying for the enactment of a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty. A draft convention of the treaty was circulated at the last SAARC summit in April and met with reservations from Pakistan and Bangladesh. However, the summit declaration had noted that there was a “need for law enforcement authorities of member states to enhance cooperation in the prevention, suppression and prosecution of offences”.

India is also pushing for strict laws and cooperation to dismantle the financing channels of terrorists by addressing issues of money laundering. It has proposed to monitor non-governmental organisations, banks, insurance companies and charitable organisations to prevent their misuse. India also circulated a draft for an additional clause in the SAARC Convention on Suppression of Terrorism that would allow detainees suspected of transnational crimes, such as terrorism, to be available to other countries.

The agenda of Thursday’s conference includes terrorism, drug and human trafficking, money laundering and the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, reported APP.