SAARC Summit adjourned until Thursday without signing any deals

The 18th SAARC summit has been adjourned until Thursday without any deals being signed.

There was a slot for singing agreements at 12.35pm, but the chair of the summit Nepal Prime Minister Sushil Koirala adjourned the two-day meet until Thursday.

It became clear quite early that two of the three deals related to road, railway and energy cooperation would not be signed.

But there had been talks at the last moment to get at least the energy cooperation deal through, as it was essential for the electricity-starved region.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his speech also pitched for those agreements.

But it was known that Pakistan blocked them saying they were not ready “internally”.

Leaders of the eight member states in their speeches have stressed SAARC’s role for the South Asia’s development.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has urged all to set aside differences and work for the progress of the region’s people, nearly 40 percent of them being poor.

Nepal is hosting the summit for the third time, and the first in more than 12 years amid strict security measures that include barring journalists from the summit venue.

The last day, Thursday, leaders will spend the morning in retreat at the Dwarika’s Resort, Dhulikhel, 30 kilometres southeast of Kathmandu.

They will come back in the afternoon at the summit venue for the closing when they will adopt a joint ‘Kathmandu declaration’ and set the dates and place of the next summit.

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has offered to host the next summit based on Islamabad’s experience of holding the 4th and 12th summits.