Delhi reviews Dhaka energy declaration

A crucial SAARC energy meeting is currently underway in New Delhi to review the status of Dhaka declaration.

New Delhi Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 16 Oct 2014, 07:33 AM
Updated : 16 Oct 2014, 07:33 AM

The meeting attended by senior officials of the energy ministries of SAARC is examining how far the decisions of the fourth meeting of SAARC energy ministers held in Dhaka in 2011 have been implemented.

With an aim to strengthen energy cooperation among the member countries, the fifth meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Energy Ministers will be held on Friday.

“Prior to the crucial ministry level meeting, senior officials of the power ministry is meeting here to examine the status of implementation of decisions of the fourth meeting of SAARC energy ministers held in Dhaka,” said a senior government official on condition of anonymity.

Indian’s Minister for Power, Coal and Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal is scheduled to inaugurate the meeting on Friday.

A number of important issues, related to the Energy sector among the member countries would be taken up for discussions.

Apart from the host country India, Energy Ministers and senior officials from the SAARC member countries, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are participating in the two-day meeting.

South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was created in 1985 with its Secretariat in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are the Members of this Association.

The process of regional cooperation in energy sector began in January 2000 with the establishment of a Technical Committee on Energy.

Thereafter, recognizing that this vital area requires focused attention, the Council of Ministers approved the creation of a specialized Working Group on Energy in January 2004 to conduct a study on the concept of the South Asian Energy Ring and constituted Ministerial level Energy Forum through the Islamabad declaration of the 12th SAARC Summit.

The First Meeting of the SAARC Energy Ministers was held at Islamabad on October 1, 2005.

It had decided the formation of an Expert Group to deliberate on the options and potential of energy conservation and energy efficiency measures and to formulate a road map for implementation in the SAARC region.

The Expert Group formulated a Road Map for implementation by the Member States.

The second meeting of the SAARC Energy Ministers was held on March 2007 in New Delhi. The third meeting of the SAARC Energy Ministers was held in Colombo in 2009. And the fourth meeting of the SAARC energy Ministers was held in Dhaka on 14-15 September 2011.