PAK-IRANIAN-AFGHAN ANTI-DRUG ACTION PLAN UNVEILED

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan said on Thursday that they
had agreed to implement a joint Action Plan to strengthen national,
bilateral and trilateral border management and security in a bid to
curb drug trafficking and transnational crimes.

In a joint statement issued after the end of a two-day trilateral
meeting on "Border Management Cooperation in Drug Control", held in
Vienna from June 12-13, the three sides identified Afghanistan's
border regions between Pakistan and Iran as being under attack from
criminal groups smuggling Precursor Chemicals into Afghanistan as
well as trafficking drugs out of the country.

"This creates regional instability and poses a serious health risk.
This transnational threat requires a cooperative solution," the statement said.

They stressed, therefore, that the joint Action Plan would not only
focus on trafficking but on all aspects of the drug economy,
including: preventing the diversion and smuggling of Precursor
Chemicals; locating and destroying drug labs; tackling corruption
which facilitates the illicit narcotics industry; and halting the
laundering of drug money.

In addition, they had asked the United Nations Office on Drugs and
Crime (UNODC) to facilitate the implementation of technical
assistance, serve a the Secretariat for the Action Plan and to
mobilise financial support for the initiative.

The three countries also agreed to hold policy-level coordination
meetings at six-month intervals as well as technical-level exchanges
at three-month intervals to enable regular and operational contacts
aimed at stemming the flow of drug trafficking from Afghanistan.

They also pledged to work towards the realisation of additional
physical barriers to block trafficking routes; increase law
enforcement capacity and assets; implement further joint operations;
improve communication; increase intelligence sharing, especially on
trafficking routes, known traffickers and suspicious shipments.

In addition, the three sides urged those states where Precursor
Chemicals were produced to tighten their controls to prevent diversion.

The statement concluded by saying that the three countries had called
on states where opiates were consumed to assume their share of
responsibility to create the pull factor that was fuelling the opium
trade. This, they said, should involve increased focus on drug
prevention as well as treatment for addiction. Interior Minister
Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao had led the Pakistani delegation to Vienna.