Pubdate: Mon, 13 Dec 2004
Source: Times of India, The (India)
Copyright: Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. 2004
Contact:  http://www.timesofindia.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/453

NARCOTICS ISSUE - INDIA, PAK HOLD TALKS

NEW DELHI: Declaring their resolve to fight the war against narcotic
and psychedelic substances, India and Pakistan on Monday decided to
explore avenues, including information and intelligence sharing and
mutual legal assistance, to control the menace.

"We have to fight the war against narcotic drugs together. It is a
common cause, has no borders and has no political considerations,"
Pakistan's Anti-Narcotics Force Director General Maj Gen Nadeem Ahmed
told PTI after a half-an-hour meeting with Home Minister Shivraj Patil
here.

Ahmed, who is heading a five-member Pakistani delegation, earlier in
the day held talks with his Indian counterpart and Director General of
Narcotics Control Bureau Swaraj Puri on ways to control the spread of
narcotic drugs like heroin and other psechedelic substances.

Similar sentimenets on the resolve to combat drug smuggling were
expressed by senior officials of the Indian side.

The agenda for the two-day parleys, being held as part of the ongoing
composite dialogue process between the two countries, includes
exchange of drafts of a Memorandum of Understanding between the two
nations to device ways to combat the menace of heroin and other
narcotic drugs, majority of which emanate from Afghanistan.

Among others present at the meeting with Patil were Puri, Pakistan's
High Commissioner here Aziz Ahmed Khan and senior officials from both
sides.

An Indian delegation from NCB had visited Pakistan in June this year
for the first round of talks to check smuggling of narcotic drugs in
the region.

Describing his meeting with Patil as "excellent", Ahmed, who arrived
in New Delhi on Friday for talks, voiced concern over record
production of opium in Afghanistan - more than 1,31,000 hectares this
year, and said this time the crop was "unparalleled".

Observing that opium from Afghanistan moves into Pakistan and Iran,
the two other nations of the so-called opium-growing 'Golden
Crescent', and also into India, he said Islamabad and New Delhi need
to work on avenues like information and intelligence sharing, sting
operations and mutual legal assistance to catch people involved in
drug trafficking.

"We have to see what the laws of each country allow. The effort is
part of the international exercise to prevent drug smuggling," the
Pakistan Anti-Narcotics Force chief said.

Ahmed said some of the narcotics find their way into Pakistan and
India before being smuggled to other nations and it leads to people
consuming such drugs and becoming addicts.

Maintaining that production of opium in the 'Golden Triangle' area of
South East Asia had gone down, he said one positive aspect in the war
against drugs was that there has been a significant decline in
smuggling of acetic anhydride, a chemical required for converting
opium into heroin.
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MAP posted-by: Derek