South Asia Symposium on Security Situation in South Asia and SAARC's Role for Peace and Stability in the Region

March 23, 2000

The South Asia Symposium will be held in Tokyo (Conference Room 892, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) on March 28 (Tue) by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The symposium will be attended by scholars and specialists on politics and security issues from seven South Asian countries (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka), Japanese academic and research experts on South Asia and security issues and government officials concerned. The moderator for the symposium will be Dr. Takako Hirose, professor of Daito Bunka University.
In the symposium, the participants will exchange views on the current security environment in South Asia, SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) 's role for peace and stability in the region, and other issues. The symposium will focus on the security environment in South Asia, which has been drastically changed after the nuclear tests conducted by India and Pakistan in May of 1998, and will examine moves aimed at easing tension and confidence building in the region. It should also be explored what kind of cooperation can be extended to SAARC from outside countries including Japan, taking SAARC's' expectations to those countries into consideration.

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