ISLAMABAD: Afghanistan and Bangladesh have not sent their experts to Pakistan to attend the first-ever seminar of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation’s (Saarc) member countries on anti-corruption.

The two-day seminar began here on Monday with a pledge to root out the menace of corruption in the region through coordinated efforts and cooperation. The regional event is being organised by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in collaboration with the Saarc Secretariat.

Despite recent tensions with Pakistan, India has sent its delegation to attend the seminar.

Both Afghanistan and Bangladesh had made the assurance that their experts on anti-corruption would attend the event.

Talking to Dawn, Afghan Ambassador to Pakistan Dr Omar Zakhilwal said that he was not aware why his country had not sent its delegation to attend the seminar. “I am not in the loop and unaware about it,” he said.

It has been learnt that Bangladesh has not been sending its delegates to Pakistan for a long time and many such events of Saarc member countries in Pakistan are attended by officials of Bangladesh embassy in Islamabad.

Indian, Nepal, Bhutan, the Maldives and Sri Lanka sent have sent the heads of their premier anti-corruption organisations to Pakistan to attend the seminar.

It is being hoped that the event will initiate a process under which Saarc countries will make joint efforts for elimination of corruption from South Asia. The seminar will chalk out a joint strategy to enhance regional cooperation for the purpose.

The visiting delegates of Saarc countries called on President Mamnoon Hussain.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Hussain underscored the need for coordinated efforts against corruption by Saarc member countries and said they needed to share their practices, expertise and experiences with each other.

NAB Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry and other senior officials were present on the occasion.

The president said such seminars provide a useful platform to Saarc member countries to exchange views and benefit from each others’ expertise. He emphasised the need for regularly holding such seminars and conferences.

He said officials of anti-corruption organisations should not be deterred by any obstacle and should discharge their responsibilities honestly.

Earlier speaking in the seminar, Law Minister Zahid Hamid said that forming an anti-corruption forum of Saarc was the need of the hour. “Since issues and concerns of these nations are common, coordinated efforts against corruption at regional level from Saarc platform are imperative,” he added.

The minister said corruption could no longer be considered an internal problem of a country, adding that the member states needed to work jointly by sharing best practices, expertise and experiences. He said by organising the seminar Pakistan had initiated a process for regional cooperation against corruption.

In his welcome address, the NAB chairman said Pakistan was ready to work at regional level for the elimination of corruption.

The NAB chairman said the seminar would be able to prepare a plan that would help existing anti-corruption efforts at regional level. This would indeed complement the agenda of the upcoming Saarc summit to be held in Islamabad on Nov 9-10, he added.

Published in Dawn, September 27th, 2016