Friday, July 29 2005 22:07 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Vientiane (Laos): Declaring that terrorism needed to be eliminated by all means, Asia's biggest security forum, of which India is a member, emphasised the need to address root causes of the menace and noted that proliferation of WMDs remained a serious challenge.

Minister of State for External Affairs Rao Indrajit Singh and other ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) Ministers also agreed that countries must ensure that any measures taken to tackle terrorism complied with their obligations under international laws and were in accordance with humanitarian laws and human rights.

A declaration adopted by the delegates at the ARF summit said several ministers "emphasised the importance of addressing the root causes of terrorism and avoiding the identification of terrorism with any particular religion or ethnic group or nationality."

"Some countries feel that the 'root cause' of terrorism needs to be addressed, but terrorism is terrorism, no matter what caste, religion or country the terrorist belongs to, he must be punished," Singh told sources in Laos at the end of the six-day summit.

India also highlighted the maritime security issue in the Straits of Malacca, which is often the scene of pirate attacks, the Minister said.

The final communique took note of India's concern stating that there were four key areas for future cooperation -- multilateral cooperation, operational solution to maritime safety and security, shipping and port security and application of technology for maritime safety and security.

Proliferation of weapons of mass destructions

The declaration said the proliferation of weapons of mass destructions and their delivery vehicles remained a serious challenge "and the most dangerous one as they might fall into terrorist hands".

The Forum also agreed that terrorism, irrespective of its origins, motivations or objectives, was a threat to people and needed to be eliminated by all means.

Laos, the Chairman of the ARF, announced that the members had agreed to admit Bangladesh in the grouping next year.

With the conclusion of the ARF, the six-day conference saw Australia overcome its earlier reservations and agree to sign a non-aggression treaty with its neighbours. Australia will join the East Asia Summit, which sees itself as a formidable trade bloc at par with EU and North America.

On India's formal entry into the East Asia grouping, Singh said to a large extent New Delhi's entry was possible because of support of countries like Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Singapore, besides others.

About India's bid for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council and the status of the G-4 resolution, the minister said once the decision taken by the African countries on a joint resolution is ratified at the upcoming African Summit it would be positive news for New Delhi.

"If it goes through we are on terra ferma," he said, adding Africa holds the key.

Observers said the Africans were least aware that what a decision taken by them would entail and that "they are the most affected."

Referring to the ARF, Singh said it was "functioning well" and knew "where it was going and knew its pace."

Int'l Convention for Suppression of Acts of Nuke Terror

The Ministers urged all states to sign and conclude the International Convention for Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism and provide for its immediate entry into force.

The ARF emphasised the need to continue strengthening the international legal foundation in combating terrorism and urged for adoption without delay of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism.

Countries that are parties to nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) expressed the need to further strengthen the treaty and agreed to make efforts to further comply and enforce all of its provisions.

The ARF ministers also called for maintaining the existing moratorium on nuclear testing and expressed support for the concept of internationally recognised nuclear weapons free zones set up on the basis of arrangements freely arrived among states in the regions concerned.

India, US, Australia, China, Japan and South Korea yesterday announced a vision statement to help control greenhouse emissions by developing cleaner energy technologies.

India and other members clarified that the vision statement was complementary to the Kyoto agreement and did not contradict it.

Earlier this week, Myanmar agreed to give up its turn for assuming Chairmanship of the ASEAN. The US had threatened to boycott ASEAN meetings in Myanmar in protest of its human rights record.

ASEAN will hold its annual summit in Kuala Lumpur in December this year. The first East Asia summit, to include the 10 ASEAN members plus China, Japan, South Korea and invitees New Zealand, India and Australia, will also be held.