SAARC foreign secretaries agree to set up technical group

Foreign Secretaries of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation countries Wednesday agreed to set up a technical group to work out objective guidelines for responding to requests from China and other friendly countries which were keen on economic cooperation with the seven-member regional grouping.

China has not applied to be a new member of SAARC but it has expressed its desire to associate itself in some form with the regional grouping so that there can be economic cooperation between the two sides, Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran told reporters in Dhaka.

Saran, who participated in the Standing Committee meeting of foreign secretaries, said various mechanisms were looked at, which not only applied to China but also other friendly countries and organisations which were interested in associating with SAARC.

A decision has been taken that there was need to work out objective criteria and guidelines for treating such requests. "We have agreed that a technical group, a kind of working group is going to look at these possibilities…" like a dialogue partner as being done by ASEAN or inviting them as observers or guests besides entering into MOUs for economic cooperation, he said.