President arrives in heavily secured Dhaka

[November 12, 2005 - 2.00 GMT]

The South Asian Leaders Summit begins here at the Bangladeshi capital later today Saturday 12th November. The Srilankan Airlines’ special flight carrying President Chandrika Kumaratunga and her delegation touched down at the Zia International Airport in the early hours this morning.

The President was escorted by the Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner Gamini Munasinghe and the Chief of Protocol from the aircraft to the red carpet area where she was received by Foreign Minister Morshed Khan. The Sri Lankan leader was then accorded a guard of honour by a Bangladeshi Army unit.

After the airport ceremony, Kumaratunga was driven in a motorcade to the heavily fortified Dhaka Sheraton Hotel, where the six visiting leaders will stay during the summit.

The usually teeming city of Dhaka, though tastefully decorated for the regional summit is sans the common people. More than 40,000 heavily armed military men and police are in place, along the streets and perched on rooftops. Bangladesh’s Inspector General of Police Abdul Qayyum said the current ‘tight security blanket’ in and around the capital were the highest safety measures the country had witnessed in its 34 year existence.

The twice-postponed SAARC summit, once after the tsunami and then due to late withdrawal of India in February this year, will be the third such event in Dhaka from where the initiative to form the group was taken in 1980 by President Ziaur Rahman.

President Kumaratunga is due to address the 13th SAARC Summit after its inauguration at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre in Dhaka at 11 am tomorrow, 12th November. Coincidentally it would be on the exact day she first took oaths as Head of State eleven years ago. This would also be her last address at an international forum as Sri Lanka’s President. The proceedings are to be telecast live from Dhaka on Sri Lanka’s National Television ‘Rupavahini’.

The Dhaka summit is expected to focus mainly on poverty reduction, which is central to the 1.5 billion people in South Asia, i.e. nearly a quarter of the world’s population.

Next issue in the order of importance is the prevention of terrorism in the region. Also on the agenda are disaster prevention & mitigation, the protection of the environment, the scourge of HIV/AIDS, cooperation in the fields of agriculture and meteorological data sharing. The prevention of the abuse of children and women are expected to figure prominently in the two-day convention. The leaders will also discuss the much talked about avian flu and the region’s preparedness in the event of a probable pandemic.

Foreign Minister Anura Bandaranaike today attended a crucial meeting of his SAARC counterparts chaired by host FM Morshed Khan to discuss the draft of a Dhaka Declaration for approval by the summit leaders.

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Last Updated Date: November 12, 2005 - 2.00 GMT