Officials iron out summit declaration<\/p>\n
Dwi Atmanta and Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Senior officials at the Asian-African Summit agreed on Tuesday to
\nthree draft declarations aimed at boosting solidarity and
\ncooperation among the nations of the two continents, officials
\nhave said.<\/p>\n
The three draft declarations are on a New Asian-African
\nStrategic Partnership (NAASP), a joint ministerial statement on a
\nplan of action for Asia-African cooperation and a joint statement
\non the tsunami, earthquakes and other natural disasters. All
\nthree are expected to be finalized and adopted during a
\nministerial meeting on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Anil Sooklal, the deputy director general of the Asia
\nDepartment at the South African Department of Foreign Affairs,
\ntold The Jakarta Post after the meeting that the areas of
\ncooperation would cover the intergovernmental, sub-regional
\norganization, and people to people levels.<\/p>\n
\"It's very encouraging that the draft declarations outline the
\nparameters of cooperation and what we would like to see coming
\nout of the partnership between Asia and Africa,\" said Sooklai,
\nwho co-chaired the consultative meeting.<\/p>\n
Sudjadnan Parnohadiningrat, the Indonesian co-chair of the
\nmeeting, said the idea of discussing the tsunami issue during the
\nsummit came from Indonesia, which was hit hardest by the
\ncatastrophe last December.<\/p>\n
\"This is a new subject that we raised at the Senior Officials
\nMeeting. We believe that the two continents need to cooperate on
\nthe handling of natural disasters,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The nine-magnitude earthquake and killer tidal waves that
\ndevastated Aceh and Nias Island also affected dozens of countries
\naround the Indian Ocean rim, killing over 170,000 people, mostly
\nin Indonesia.<\/p>\n
As reconstruction in Aceh was getting underway, another major
\nearthquake rocked Nias in North Sumatra late in March, leaving
\nhundreds of people dead.<\/p>\n
Sudjadnan said the NAASP declaration would be signed by the heads
\nof state\/government at the summit and formally launched in
\nBandung during the golden jubilee celebrations of the 1955 Asia-
\nAfrica Conference on Sunday, while a joint heads of state
\nstatement on the tsunami was expected to be issued on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Around 90 ministers from Asian and African countries will
\nattend the ministerial meeting here on Wednesday, when the three
\ndraft declarations are expected to be adopted. Some participating
\ncountries will be represented by their ambassadors.<\/p>\n
As of Tuesday, 94 countries and UN bodies, and 17
\ninternational organizations had confirmed their attendance at the
\ntwo-day summit, which will commence on Friday.<\/p>\n
Ministers from Asian and African countries have met twice
\nduring Asian-African Sub-Regional Conferences (AASROC) in Bandung
\nand Durban, South Africa, respectively, since the idea of
\nreinvigorating what has become known as \"the spirit of Bandung\"
\nwas initiated by South African president Thabo Mbeki and former
\npresident Megawati Soekarnoputri in 2002.<\/p>\n
The ministerial meetings, co-chaired by the foreign ministers
\nof South Africa and Indonesia, resulted in an agreement to forge
\na new strategic partnership between the countries of the two
\ncountries.<\/p>",
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