Saarc

Saarc not moving forward, 1 member spreading cross-border terror: EAM

The SAARC is "not moving forward" and meetings of the regional grouping have not happened in the last few years as one of its members is practising "cross-border terrorism", External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Saturday. The EAM's remarks on the stalling of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), without naming any country, comes ahead of his scheduled visit to Pakistan mid-October to attend a key meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Islamabad. The SAARC has not been very effective since 2016 as its biennial summits have not taken place since the last one at Kathmandu in 2014. "At the moment, SAARC is not moving forward. We have not had a meeting of SAARC for a very simple reason, there is one member of SAARC who is practising cross-border terrorism, at least against one more member of SAARC, maybe more," Jaishankar said in response to a query on revival of the grouping at an event here. "If you are all sitting together and ...

Revival of SAARC spirit can solve many regional problems: Muhammad Yunus

There should be a revival of the spirit of SAARC, Muhammad Yunus, the head of Bangladesh's interim government has said, underlining that the eight-member bloc can solve many of the region's problems. In an interview with PTI at his official residence in Dhaka, Chief Adviser Yunus said that although the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was formed with a great cause, it now exists only on paper and is not functioning. The regional grouping comprises Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Yunus mentioned that he would try to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session scheduled to be held later this month. He also mentioned that he will try to get the heads of state of SAARC nations together for a photo op. Obviously, we will try to meet (Prime Minister Narendra Modi). I will try if all the heads of state of SAARC nations come together and take a photo. SAARC was formed for

Sri Lanka President recalls crisis help from SAARC nations including India

Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Thursday recalled the assistance received from India and Bangladesh during the early days of the worst economic crisis and said the island nation would not have been able to recover from the turmoil had these countries not helped. Expressing gratitude to the government and Reserve Bank of India, as well as the government and Central Bank of Bangladesh, for their financial support, which he described as lifesaving, the president in his keynote address at the inaugural session of the 45th SAARCFINANCE Governors' Meeting and Symposium here said the assistance, along with aid from the United States Agency For International Development (USAID) and the World Bank, was pivotal in stabilising the country's economy. I must thank the government and the Reserve Bank of India and the government and the Central Bank of Bangladesh. That USD three and a half billion and that USD 200 million were lifesavers. Without that, we wouldn't be here today; there

Will roll out products from Chennai plant by H2CY24: Cisco's Chittilapilly

India is among the top ten markets for Cisco globally and with the new manufacturing plant in Chennai, the country is gaining even more prominence

India rules out revival of Saarc in view of one country's terrorism toolkit

Ahead of the formation of a new government in Pakistan, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday ruled out any immediate possibility of revival of regional grouping SAARC in view of Islamabad's "toolkit" of using terrorism in different ways, including against other members of the bloc. In an interactive session at a think-tank, Jaishankar, without directly naming Pakistan, said the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is in trouble as one of its member nations has been relentlessly backing terrorism. "If you ask me whether I see a future for SAARC, in some ways, actually you are asking me if I see a future for that country. Because if that country does not really let go of those kinds of options in its armoury or its toolkit, then it is not just SAARC which is in danger. I mean, very frankly, you are looking at the state of that country as well," he said. To a question on whether India is perceived by its neighbours as a bully, Jaishankar countered, ...

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Bangladesh diplomat Golam Sarwar appointed next SAARC secretary general

Bangladesh on Thursday announced the appointment of career diplomat Mohammad Golam Sarwar as the Secretary General of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). "He (Sarwar) will be the fifteenth in the list of succession and third Bangladeshi to assume this position of the regional organisation, Bangladesh's foreign ministry said in a statement. A career diplomat, Sarwar is currently serving as Bangladesh's ambassador to Malaysia. His appointment came in line with the SAARC charter's rotating system for the position from among the eight member countries with India and Pakistan being the major ones. He previously served as Bangladesh's ambassador to Oman and Sweden. SAARC was founded in 1985 largely under Bangladesh's initiative for regional cooperation in the economic, technological, social, and cultural arena while heads of governments of the member states are scheduled to meet annually. The SAARC has not been very effective since 2016 as its biennial summits

Making efforts to activate eight-member regional group SAARC: Nepal

Nepal on Sunday said it was making efforts to activate the eight-member regional grouping SAARC, which has not been very effective since 2016. Speaking at a meeting of the National Concern and Coordination Committee under the National Assembly, Secretary and spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Bharat Raj Paudel said the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) could not be made effective due to the lack of consensus among all member states. Nepal is trying to make it active, he was quoted as saying by My Republica newspaper. "We are chairing the SAARC. However, there are places where processes have not progressed. This multilateralism and regionalism have certain constants. One of them is that when we formed SAARC, we agreed on a fundamental principle while defining the charter of SAARC. That means nothing moves forward until everyone agrees on a topic. Basically, it cannot be the same. The role of the chair of SAARC is nothing special. We are only one

BIMSTEC secretary-general to pay four-day visit to India next week

Tenzin Lekphell, the secretary general of the seven-nation grouping BIMSTEC, will pay a four-day visit to India beginning Monday to explore ways to take forward the bloc's cooperative agenda. India has been making concerted efforts to make BIMSTEC a vibrant forum for regional cooperation as initiatives under SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) were not moving forward for a variety of reasons. Announcing Lekphell's visit from August 22 to 25, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said he will hold discussions with senior Indian officials on how to take forward cooperation in sync with the mandate of its leaders. Besides India, the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) comprises Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Nepal and Bhutan. At the 5th BIMSTEC Summit held in Sri Lanka on March 30, the leaders of the member nations adopted a charter and a connectivity roadmap to make the grouping a vibrant platform f

We must rejuvenate SAARC, says former Bhutan PM Tsering Tobgay

Tobgay's lecture was moderated by former Indian foreign secretary Shyam Saran, and part of a monthly series organised by the Centre for Policy Research, to mark Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav

Sri Lankan president calls for unity govt to resolve economic crisis

The developments come after Gotabaya Rajapaksa declared a state of emergency on Friday, following protests over the economic hardship faced by the people of the country

Sri Lanka to return Indian inmates under SAARC prisoner exchange deal

Sri Lanka will hand over two Indian prisoners, who have been serving life imprisonment in the island nation, to India on Wednesday and Thursday under the SAARC prisoners exchange agreement

Pak ready to host SAARC Summit, India can join virtually: FM Qureshi

SAARC - a regional grouping comprising Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka - has not been very effective since 2016

Pak PM Khan hopes to host SAARC Summit after removal of artificial obstacle

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday expressed hope that his country would host the SAARC Summit after the removal of artificial obstacle in its way. Khan made the remarks during his meeting with Secretary-General of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Esala Ruwan Weerakoon, who paid a courtesy call on the Prime Minister here, according to Foreign Office. The Prime Minister expressed hope to host the SAARC Summit in Pakistan when artificial obstacle created in its way would be removed, said FO. The SAARC - a regional grouping comprising Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka - has not been very effective since 2016 as its biennial summits have not taken place since the last one in Kathmandu in 2014. The 2016 SAARC Summit was originally planned to be held in Islamabad on November 15-19, 2016. But after a terror attack on an Indian Army camp in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir on September 18 that year, India expressed

We are poised at the cusp of tremendous opportunity: Cisco's Chittilapilly

Cisco's president for India and Saarc sees big scope in the digitisation of multiple industry sectors that have been poor adopters of technology

SAARC meet canceled as Pak seeks Taliban representing Afghanistan: Report

India, some other members objected to the proposal for a meeting of the bloc's foreign ministers.

Saarc nations for technology use to fight climate crisis in fisheries

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation countries on Thursday pitched for adoption of technologies to reduce the impact of climate crisis on fisheries and acquaculture

Cisco appoints Daisy Chittilapilly as president of India, SAARC operations

Chittilapilly has over 25 years of experience in the technology industry, including 17 years of leadership experience at Cisco

SAARC virtual meet: India invites Pakistan to coronavirus workshop

It is a virtual workshop on management of Covid-19, response to the pandemic and exchange of best practices amid the pandemic