Saarcpol is a good idea

They have shown signs of breaking loose from the clutch of prejudices and distrust that cast a shadow over prospects for cooperation at the operational levels between their law and order forces. There is no doubt terrorism, trafficking of drugs, arms and human beings and other related crimes require robust cooperation within the region to be effectively contained.

The very expression of intent that police forces of the seven Saarc countries will cooperate with each other would itself have been newsy. But what is even more significant is that a decision has been taken to establish Saarcpol modeled on the famous international police agencies like Interpol and Europol.

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That we are thinking of launching a nodal police agency across South Asia augurs extremely well. The simple reason for this is, it will provide an institutional basis for cooperation, something the countries have been lacking.

Terrorism, drugs and arms trafficking, human trafficking and money laundering are not merely cross-border crimes they are also intertwined in many respects. These can not be successfully combated by any single country, or even on a bilateral basis, however powerful. This is a proven fact. Such menaces will have to be tackled by means of unfettered professional and technological cooperation between forces of the region.

The emphasis would obviously be optimal exchange of information on investigation, prosecution, control and, above all, preemption, of crimes. The ultimate test of the resolve for cooperation will be in signing up to extradition treaties to facilitate handover of terrorists and criminals.