New Delhi: Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee
will inaugurate the 42nd Consultative Committee Meeting(CCM)
of Colombo Plan tomorrow, which brings nations together for
co-operative economic development in the South and South-East
Asia.
"The purpose of the Colombo Plan is co-operative economic
development in the South and South-East Asia," an official
release said.
Over 150 delegates from 26 member countries and other 33
observer countries and organisations are expected to
participate in the CCM, to be held on February 10-11.
India has earlier hosted the Consultative Committee
Meetings in 1953 and 1972.
The idea of launching the Colombo Plan germinated at a
meeting of Commonwealth Foreign Ministers in Colombo in
January 1950, where the ministers concentrated their attention
on the needs of South and South-East Asia and the strategies
to address them.
Over the years, the Colombo Plan grew from the group of
seven Commonwealth nations ? Australia, the UK, Canada, Sri
Lanka, India, New Zealand and Pakistan into an international
organization of 26, including non-commonwealth nations.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, February 09, 2010, 21:12