SAARC summit begins in Kathmandu

The 18th SAARC summit has got under way at the Nepalese capital Kathmandu with South Asian leaders aiming to deepen integration despite, although the signing of the much-expected connectivity deals remains uncertain.

Current chairperson of the eight-member group, Maldives President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom, announced it open at the Rastriya Sabha Griha (City Hall) amid strict security measures.

Host Nepal Prime Minister Sushil Koirala lit the lamp on behalf of the member states while the band played ‘Mangal Dhoon’.

Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are the members of SAARC.

All SAARC leaders, foreign ministers as well as secretaries joined the summit with their spouses.

The summit is being held after a two-year postponement.

Nepal, which strategically located between India and China, is hosting the meet for the third time after 1987 and 2002.

Wednesday and Thursday, the days of the meet, have declared holidays in Kathmandu.

Many streets have been made off-limits for vehicles and ordinary people.

Even journalists, except two from state-sponsored media of each country, are being kept off the main venue, the Rastriya Sabha Griha (City Hall).

Journalists have been advised to use the media centre at Hotel Radisson, located at least 10 kilometres away from the summit venue.

The proceedings will be shown live for the benefit of the press.

All heads of states and the representatives of the nine observers such as the US, EU, China, Japan, Australia, Iran would deliver speeches.

The meeting is expected to consider the report of the SAARC Council of Foreign Ministers, who met on Tuesday, and those of other ministerial meetings held earlier.

At the end, it is also expected to adopt a Kathmandu declaration, setting the guidelines for the next moves of the regional grouping.

SAARC, which strives to unite South Asia, the world’s “least integrated” region, has been criticised for not showing any collective gains since its inception in 1985.

But this summit will be watched closely as influential India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent a strong message of working together with the SAARC countries by inviting all heads of states to his swearing-in ceremony.

This is his first summit, and, before leaving New Delhi, he in a statement said “development of close relations with our neighbours is a key priority for my Government”.

However, the relations between India and Pakistan determine whether the regional grouping can move smoothly.

‘Deeper integration for peace and prosperity’ is the theme of this year’s summit.

The Nepal Prime Minister in his opening remarks lamented that despite geographical proximity, “lack of connectivity kept us far and far”.

“We are the least integrated region in the world,” he said as he called for cooperation and connectivity to get rid of poverty, main challenge of the region.

“Let’s SAARC be strong, unified and meaningful for overall development of South Asia,” he said.

The summit agenda was adopted after his speech and Koirala was elected the summit chairman.

Three agreements related to road and railway connectivity and energy cooperation were expected to be signed during this summit.

But countries could not agree on their signing before the meet began.

Bangladesh foreign minister AH Mahmood Ali, however, said they were pushing to get at least one deal, Saarc Framework Agreement for Energy Cooperation (Electricity), signed.

There is a slot for signing deals after 12.30pm of the first day of the summit.