The Daily Star

Saarc summit in Dhaka Nov 12-13
Pakistan announces dates; Morshed Khan says all members have agreed to take part
AFP, Islamabad

The twice-postponed 13th summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) will be held in Dhaka on November 12-13, Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz announced in Islamabad yesterday.

Pakistan, the current chair of the seven-nation regional body, issued the new dates after consultation with the host Bangladesh and other member states.

The summit had originally been slated for January 9-11 but was cancelled after the December 26 tsunami disaster that battered Asian shores. The tsunami devastated coastal areas of three Saarc countries -- Sri Lanka, India and the Maldives.

The summit was rescheduled for February 6-7 but was postponed again at the last minute after India pulled out citing concerns about the security situation in the region.

Aziz said the summit will be preceded by meetings of the standing committee and the council of ministers from November 9-11. "We believe that regional cooperation is an important vehicle for faster economic growth and development," he told reporters.

The Saarc, which groups Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, was founded in 1985 to forge economic solidarity and boost standards of living among the region's 1.4 billion people.

The grouping has few achievements to show mainly due to tensions between its two largest members, India and Pakistan.

UNB adds: Foreign Minister M Morshed Khan yesterday said all the seven member states have agreed to participate in the November 12-13 summit.

"We are very happy that all the member countries have reached a consensus on the summit dates and decided to participate in it," he told the news agency.

The foreign minister said Bangladesh, as the next chair of Saarc, is confident of steering the forum ahead to foster economic cooperation through regional integration.

He said the government and the people of Bangladesh are looking for the opportunity to host a very successful summit, which will be the beginning of the third decade of the seven-nation forum that started its journey from Dhaka.