by Abul Kalam Azad

Though not on the agenda of the SAARC Summit that kicks off in Dhaka today, one of the biggest issues expected to dominate discussions will be security. It is expected to figure prominently in discussions both at the summit as well as in the bilateral meetings the heads of state will have on the sidelines.
   Since the 12th SAARC summit held in Islamabad in January 2004, most of the member-states have come under terrorist attacks, the latest being the serial blasts in Delhi in which over 60 people were killed on the eve of the Diwali and Eid festivals.
   As with the three summits held since 1998, the Bangladesh government has planned comprehensive security arrangements to host the twice-postponed 13th summit in Dhaka. Given a regional and global geo-political security crisis, the security clampdown has been inevitable for Dhaka, after the country recently experienced two successive country-wide chain bombings.
   Bangladesh as the host nation has endorsed unprecedented security measures for the summit by deploying 30,000 elite security personnel.
   Though the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation was founded two decades ago with the mission to alleviate poverty from the region as its major thrust, security issues has become the most important aspect for the seven-nation forum.
   The rise of extremism, both religious and ethnic coupled with frequent terrorist attacks in the region over the years has brought the issue to the forefront of the summit of the important regional forum.
   The two attempts on the life of Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf within a gap of ten days earlier forced Pakistan to re-evaluate their security arrangements in the 2004 summit. As the assassination attempts caused concern among dignitaries set to attend the Islamabad summit, representatives of the seven nations had to review the entire schedule and security arrangements for the three-day summit.
   The 11th summit in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu was also held amid tight security arrangements because of the country’s Maoist insurgency. Security of the foreign dignitaries was beefed up as the Nepalese government continued its fight against the Maoists, with members of the army and police deployed in large numbers. Patrolling was intensified all around the city and police made preventive detentions of suspect Maoist rebels.
   Because of internal and external factors, the Sri Lankan government had to impose a curfew to hold the 10th SAARC summit in Colombo in July 1989.
   Delhi too is dogged with innumerable insurgencies and separatist movements, with a Maoist insurgency slowly spreading its wings in its own backyard because of the development disparities that characterises parts of rural India.
   It was against this backdrop that Dhaka identified a number of potential security threats that might thwart the ongoing summit.
   In Bangladesh, after many of the arrested militants of the banned Islamist outfit Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh admitted carrying out the chain-bombings on August 17, Islamist militancy has emerged as the major security concern for the government.
   Though the militant kingpins for whom the government announced a huge bounty, have managed to dodge the police dragnet, it seems that the government action has been successful to clip their wings. It is unlikely that they will be able to carry out similar attacks before or during the SAARC summit.
   Several foreign and regional intelligence agencies are reported to have strong bases in the country and they could also have plotted a sabotage ahead or during the summit to project Bangladesh in a negative light in the global media, the government suspects.
   The SAARC has so far adopted two protocols – the SAARC regional convention on suppression of terrorism and the additional protocol to the SAARC regional convention on suppression of terrorism, to fight terrorism and extremism in the region.
   Diplomatic sources said the issue of tackling terrorism would come up for discussion both at the summit and in the bi-lateral talks among the SAARC leaders.
   At the tenth summit, heads of state or government recognised that the member states and peoples of South Asia continue to face the serious threat of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.
   They reiterated their firm commitment to combat these activities in the region. They emphasised the urgent need to complete enabling legislation in order to
   implement the SAARC regional conventions on suppression of terrorism and on narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.
   The 13th summit has already been postponed twice – once for Tsunami and another on security reason. The summit, originally scheduled for January this year, was postponed in December for the natural calamity.
   As per the fresh schedule, the summit was to take place on February 7-8 but was postponed again on security grounds, derived from the killing of former finance minister and main opposition Awami League leader, Shah ASM Kibria on January 27. The postponement came when India pulled out from the summit, citing security reasons, and King Gyanendra’s royal coup in Nepal.
   Considering this, many experts believe that the issue of security and terrorism should come into discussion s among SAARC leaders as an important and openly discussed issue.