DHAKA, 5 October 2005 — Bangladesh is making all efforts to ensure foolproof security for South Asian summit in Dhaka next month, sources yesterday said.
The government ordered a further tightening of airport and border security following a spate of attacks to ensure security, officials said.
“We are taking all measures to ensure the safe arrival, stay and return of the south Asian leaders and other delegates attending the Nov. 12-13 summit,” said one official.
“Movement across the borders (with India and Myanmar) will be monitored more closely so that trouble makers, if any, won’t be able to flee easily,” said the official.
Foreign Minister M. Morshed Khan said on Monday the summit would be held on schedule.
The summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), which groups Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka — has been twice postponed since last December, once following the Indian Ocean tsunami and again because Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh declined to attend over security concerns.
Officials said all SAARC leaders had confirmed they would attend the summit, despite a wave of countrywide bombings blamed on militants seeking to turn Bangladesh into an Islamic state. Some 500 small bombs exploded simultaneously across the country on Aug. 17, killing three people and wounding over 100. — Additional input from Reuters
