By IANS
New Delhi : The issue of regional transport seems to be topping the agenda of South Asian governments.
A day after SAARC transport ministers end a meeting here Friday, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee heads for Kolkata to speak on promoting greater connectivity in South Asia.
Mukherjee will deliver the keynote address at the inaugural session of a national seminar on “SAARC: Accelerating Cooperation through Connectivity” Saturday.
Top academics, think tanks, intellectuals, civil society members and senior officials will participate in the two-day seminar which is being organised by the public diplomacy division of the external affairs ministry in association with the Research and Information System (RIS), the Global India Foundation (GIF) and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee will also attend the inaugural session of the seminar.
The seminar will discuss issues related to globalisation and economic integration, imperatives for South Asia regional economic cooperation, strengthening physical connectivity and fostering people-to-people contacts in the region.
Transport ministers of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation countries will meet here Friday to discuss multi-modal transport networks to enhance connectivity in the region.
India will push for a South Asian transport corridor to enhance trade, travel and popular contacts in the region and ask Pakistan and Bangladesh to grant transit facilities at the first meeting of the SAARC transport ministers here Friday.
Transport secretaries from the SAARC countries met here Thursday to finalise the agenda for the ministerial meet that will discuss in detail the Regional Multi-modal Transport Study that has identified 16 roads, rail tracks, aviation routes, shipping and inland corridors in the region to ensure more intra-regional trade and connectivity.