Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Arjun Bahadur Singh has been appointed a coordinator of a committee to oversee the management of the 23rd meeting of the SAARC Council of Ministers consisting of foreign ministers of South Asia to discuss regional cooperation in Katmandu for two days beginning August 21.

Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, who is also Foreign Minister, chaired a meeting in the capital Saturday to discuss preparations for the mini summit.

Deuba directed the Foreign Ministry to coordinate inter-governmental activities for the meeting of leaders and bureaucrats of South Asia, including India and Pakistan.

Deuba told officials to adopt austerity measures while going ahead with the meeting. Security of delegates was a top agenda of the meeting, an announcement said

Nepal is the current chairman of SAARC. nepalnews.com br July 27