Colombo, (PTI) : India said it supports initiatives to facilitate regional cooperation in confronting the challenges posed by natural disasters.
"The South Asia Region in particular, is extremely vulnerable to these natural calamities which have frequently struck our region with ferocity. The loss in terms of lives and assets and deprivation and dislocation suffered by the people is enormous," Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar Kumar said.
Kumar was speaking at the opening session of the 3rd Asian regional conference of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) here.
The conference, which was opened by the Sri Lankan Prime Minister D M Jayaratne, aims to discuss issues on "Climate Change and Natural Disasters", "Poverty Alleviation" and "Mother and Child" which have been identified as top priority issues of the region.
"India whole-heartedly supports initiatives to facilitate regional cooperation in confronting the challenges posed by natural disasters and we are ever keen to share our expertise and experience in the field with our neighbours," Kumar said, referring to SAARC Disaster Management Centre established in New Delhi 2006.
She said that periodic exchanges of views among parliamentarians facilitate closer scrutiny of political, social and cultural issues.
Kumar said "we stand ready to provide whatever additional assistance is required", referring to devastation caused in floods in Sri Lanka twice within a month which affected more than one million persons on both occasions respectively.
India was one of the first countries to respond to Sri Lanka''s call for assistance in early January when the first wave of floods hit the eastern province of the country.
On poverty alleviation, she said that the "poverty is the most daunting challenge facing us today".
The overall achievements towards poverty eradication have been slow and uneven despite global commitments to reduce the poverty, she said.
Speaking on the other major issue addressed by the conference, "Mother and Child" , Kumar said that "between now and 2015, we will provide technical assistance to other countries, share our experience and will support the creation of a platform for global knowledge management to oversee the dissemination of best practices."
India is committed to spending over USD 3.5 billion each year on health services especially those aimed at women''s and children''s health.
Source :- http://news.in.msn.com
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