Early SAARC Summit Ruled Out

November 14, 2000
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Kathmandu, Nov.14: An early resumption of the Kathmandu summit of seven South Asian nations scuttled by India last November after a military take-over in Pakistan has been ruled out.

” Given the present circumstances… no meetings of the summit process are immediately envisaged,” AFP reported quoting Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar.

” They( problems in South Asia) are intractable, but not insoluble,” Kadirgamar told officials of the region meeting in the Sri Lankan capital.

Nepal was hosting the summit of members of the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC) for the second time.

Besides Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Maldives are members of the regional grouping.

Bilateral differences between India and Pakistan, two dominant members of the South Asian regional grouping, have been a stumbling block in the Association’s progress.