ISLAMABAD, 29 December 2003 — Army troops were positioned in hills overlooking the capital for the first time yesterday as part of massive security efforts for next week's South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit.
The measure, unprecedented for any summit here, follows two assassination attempts on President Pervez Musharraf this month, the latest killing 15 people on Christmas Day.
"Whatever security measures are required will be made," Pakistan military spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan told AFP.
"Whatever number of troops is required for the security will be deployed," he added.
Sultan said army helicopters will also take part in security surveillance during the Jan. 4-6 summit, during which Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee is due to come face-to-face with Musharraf for the first time in two years.
The heads of state and government of the seven-nation SAARC which groups Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, will start arriving on Jan. 3, foreign office spokesman Masood Khan told AFP.
"We are giving top priority and the fullest attention to security," Pakistani Foreign Secretary Riaz Khokhar said.
"There will be tight and stringent security arrangements during the entire summit period."
Key roads leading to the two big hotels where the foreign guests will be staying will be barred to ordinary traffic along with the route to the Convention Center, the summit's imposing venue.
"No private vehicle will be allowed on these roads during the summit period," Khan said.
Police commandos armed with automatic weapons and sophisticated gadgets will guard strategic points in the capital while plainclothes officers will patrol with sniffer dogs, a police spokesman said.
Patrols have been stepped up and the capital's entry and exit points are being guarded closely, he added.
The Christmas Day attack on Musharraf, when two suicide bombers rammed his motorcade in Rawalpindi, followed a similar attack 11 days earlier when the president's convoy avoided a powerful explosion by seconds.
Meanwhile, the summit raises hopes for cooperation in one of the world's most populous and poorest regions, marred by persisting tensions between India and Pakistan.
The summit will discuss a report on poverty alleviation in the region, Khokhar said.
"A more ambitious undertaking of creating a South Asia Free Trade Area (SAFTA) will also come up for discussion" at the Jan. 4-6 meeting, he said.
Agreements on suppressing terrorism, narcotics, trafficking in women and children for prostitution will be on the agenda at the 12th SAARC summit, he said.
Founded in 1985 to foster good neighborly relations and economic cooperation in the region, SAARC never realized its objectives because of hostilities between India and Pakistan.
In its 18-year history the organization has seen "many ups and downs," Khokhar said, adding that "frequent postponements" of the summits hampered SAARC's progress.
Pakistan's bid to host the summit in January this year was frustrated by Vajpayee's refusal to participate in the wake of heightening tensions between the two countries.
However, as the two countries moved toward normalization in April after two years of sparring, Vajpayee agreed to visit Pakistan - a move hailed by the regional experts as a sign SAARC could revive its dormant agenda.
"The significance of the upcoming summit is that it will revive the functioning of SAARC, which was stalled because the Indians were not ready to sit on a conference table with Pakistan," chairman of the Institute of Regional Studies, Khalid Mahmoud, said.
According to the World Bank the region remains one of the most disadvantaged in the world.
"More than 40 percent of its 1.4 billion people live on less than one US dollar a day, making South Asia home to nearly half of the world's poor," its August 2003 report said.
Analysts said the miserable socio-economic conditions among its member states stem either from domestic troubles or bilateral disputes.
India, which forms 70 percent of the total area in South Asia and holds about two-thirds of the region's population, borders almost every SAARC country.
"Unfortunately other members are scared that India wants to dominate the region," former Pakistani ambassador to Thailand, Kamal Matinuddin said.
"SAARC can make progress if India removes this fear and settles disputes with others, including the Kashmir issue with its big neighbor Pakistan."
But SAARC is essentially an economic forum and its charter bans the raising of contentious issues in the summit.
Leaders traditionally meet on the sidelines of the summit, and Vajpayee has agreed to talk to his Pakistani counterpart Zafarullah Khan Jamali.
Vajpayee has also agreed to attend a dinner hosted by President Musharraf for the leaders. "This could offer an opportunity for the Indian and Pakistani leaders to discuss the confidence building measures exchanged by the two countries," Matinuddin said.
Pakistan to Repay $1 Billion Loans to Credit Agencies
Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz has said that Pakistan will prepay $1 billion to international credit agencies next month and raise $500 million through Euro bonds in the next quarter.
Addressing the first annual general meeting of World Memon Organization (WMO) he said the money to be raised through Euro bonds will be spent on debt servicing and development of infrastructure.
"We are at the brink of conclusion of IMF program and the country no longer goes out with a begging bowl," he said while narrating the economic achievements during the last four years by Pakistan.
Referring to the international reports, he said that during the year 2003, Pakistan has been declared among "happening economies" in the Asian region.
