Ministers in charge of drug control from China, India, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand on Thursday expressed their political commitment to further cooperation on drug control in the region.

Recognizing the drug situation in the sub-region requires immediate attention and that any single country can't solve its drug problem in isolation, ministers from the five nations gathered in the northern Thai province of Chiang Rai for a 2-day Ministerial Meeting of the Penta-lateral Cooperation on Drug Control.

They were scheduled to discuss various issues related to drug control cooperation, including implementation of crop substitution program, market admission for the program products, control on chemical precursor for illegal drug production and information exchange etc.

The control of chemical precursor was expected to be a main topic of the penta-lateral meeting.

At a preliminary senior official meeting held on Tuesday and Wednesday at Chiang Rai, delegations from the five nations had agreed to place three main precursors in their priority control lists.

The three precursors are ephedrine, pseudo-ephedrine and aceticanhydride, which were essential chemicals for the production of heroin and amphetamine type stimulants.

The five countries' ministers will also ratify a Chiang Rai Declaration, which had been passed on the senior official meeting.

The declaration "fully" affirmed" the strong determination and clear political commitment" of the five governments in addressing the drug issues.

It also underlined the five nations' willingness to carry out cooperative program and information exchange on drug control.

The region includes China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand started multilateral cooperation on drug control since August 2001, when delegates from the four countries adopted Beijing Declaration to join efforts in solving drug problems.

India, which borders Myanmar to the north, was invited to take part in the regional cooperation on drug control.

"India's participation will contribute to the increased effectiveness of our mutual cooperation in the control of narcotic drugs and transnational crimes," said Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra at the opening of the penta-lateral meeting.

Chiang Rai, some 800 kilometers north of Bangkok, is Thailand's northernmost province, which borders Myanmar and Laos to the north.

(Xinhua News Agency July 24, 2003)