By NNN-PTI
New Delhi : India has decided to host for the first time an international conference on Federalism for identifying case studies and potential areas of consensus building in the wake of rising terrorist activities in the country.
The three-day conference, beginning here on November five, is expected to attract sizable participants from several countries and so far nearly half of the 1,000 invitees from abroad have already confirmed their participation, as per feedback received by the Inter-State Council Secretariat under the Union Home Ministry.
The issue of federal crimes has come into sharp focus in the backdrop of recommendations made by a number of panels like the Madhav Menon Committee and the Veerappa Moily-headed Administrative Reforms Commission to have a close look into the matter.
Even Prime Minister Manmohan Singh referred to federal crimes while addressing the just-concluded conference of top police brass here.
In the run up to the three-day conference, Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil has already chaired a number of preparatory meetings and four regional round-table conferences have already been held in Guwahati, Nainital, Kochi and Goa.
Patil has underlined the importance of the concept of federalism and stated that new problems emerging in federal systems should be handled in a proper, innovative and effective manner.
Five heads of states, including President of Switzerland, President of Comoros, Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Prime Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina have confirmed participation, officials said, adding over 1,000 in-country participants, including all-state chief ministers will also be present during the conference.