Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will visit Colombo to attend the 15th SAARC summit on Friday amidst the upsurge of violence in Sri Lanka in the recent months. He would be the first Congress PM after Rajiv Gandhi — who had visited the island nation to sign the India-Sri Lanka accord in 1987 — to visit the country.In the sidelines of the two-day SAARC summit starting on Saturday, Singh is expected to meet Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Terrorism will be high on the agenda as it is affecting several of the eight member countries, particularly India, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. SAARC nations also comprise Nepal, Bangladesh, Maldives and Bhutan.The summit is expected to consider a regional framework for cooperation in tackling terrorism that would benefit both countries, especially India, in the wake of the recent serial blasts in Bangalore and Gujarat and the one at the Indian embassy in Kabul. “Terrorism will be discussed during the summit,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Navtej Sarna said on Thursday, “considering the vulnerability of the region” to the menace. “A crime-free atmosphere is essential for ensuring growth of the region.”Citing the Kabul embassy attack, Sarna said the incident “underlines how vulnerable South Asia is to the scourge of terrorism.” While briefing mediapersons on the Prime Minister’s visit, he emphasised the need for a “collective action” among SAARC countries to tackle the menace. In this regard, he referred to the proposed agreement for SAARC Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters and said it would be effective in dealing with crimes in the region.Bilateral meetings between the heads of states and governments are also expected to take place during the summit, most notable among which will be the one-to-one between Manmohan Singh and Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani. The PM is also expected to interact with some political leaders and groups of Indian origin.The SAARC summit will also be attended by observers from China, South Korea, Japan, Iran, the US and the European Union. Two other countries, Australia and Myanmar, have sought observer status.
