Delayed SAARC summit from Jan.4-6: Indian report


November 2, 2001
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November 02, 2001

KATHMANDU: The delayed summit of seven South Asian nations, including arch rivals India and Pakistan, will finally be held in Kathmandu from January 4 to 6, The Hindu national English language newspaper reported Friday from New Delhi quoting knowledgeable sources.

Correspondent C. Rajamohan of the newspaper said all member nations of the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC) have agreed to the proposed summit dates.
The 11th summit that was scheduled to be held in the Nepali capital in December 1999 was postponed after India objected to the summit following a military take-over by General Pervez Musharraf by overthrowing an elected civilian government. Host Nepal has not confirmed the dates.

Nepal had been pushing the conference after earmarking millions of rupees for the conference; Sri Lanka is the current chairperson of the conference. If the reports are true, current  SAARC Secretary General Nihal Rodrigo will not guide the summit because his three-year term expires in December; a Bangladesh government nominee will succeed the Sri Lankan diplomat.

The report is significant because Pakistan President Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee will be meeting for the first time after the recent international crisis if they do not bump into each other at the  delayed September session of the UN General Assembly in New York later this month.

Reports so far from India said Vajpayee will not meet  the Pakistan head of state and government in New York. Besides Nepal, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Maldives are also members of the regional  grouping.

After years of isolation, the isolated Pakistan military ruler has now got western government support by joining an international coalition led by the U.S.A. to fight international terrorism following the
September 11 terror attacks against targets in New York and Washington.