Safta Must Be Achieved By Turn Of The Century: Gujral

Prime Minister I K Gujral yesterday called for urgent steps by the seven-nation Saarc to move speedily towards the goal of South Asian Free Trade Area (Safta).

Gujral took up the issue with the other South Asian leaders during the informal talks while in retreat, at the Kurumba beach resort island on the second day of the Saarc summit, official sources said.

We will speed up Safta, Gujral told reporters.

The retreat earlier scheduled at the luxury beach resort at Full Moon Islands, had to be hurriedly arranged at the Kurumba beach resort, where the heads of state and government are staying for the summit, due to bad weather.

In his address to the summit on Monday, Gujral underscored the need to extend tariff concessions to cover all product lines, to be accompanied by dismantling of non-tariff barriers, so that the objective of Safta could be achieved by the turn of the century.

The Prime Minister reiterated Indias commitment not to let non-tariff barriers come in the way of expansion of imports from Saarc member states, which would be generated through tariff concessions.

We have already removed these barriers substantially and this process will continue, Gujral told the summit.

The goal of Safta must be achieved to launch us into the next millennium as a free trade area, the Prime Minister told the summit.