Saarc

Making efforts to activate eight-member regional group SAARC: Nepal

Nepal on Sunday said it was making efforts to activate the eight-member regional grouping SAARC, which has not been very effective since 2016. Speaking at a meeting of the National Concern and Coordination Committee under the National Assembly, Secretary and spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Bharat Raj Paudel said the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) could not be made effective due to the lack of consensus among all member states. Nepal is trying to make it active, he was quoted as saying by My Republica newspaper. "We are chairing the SAARC. However, there are places where processes have not progressed. This multilateralism and regionalism have certain constants. One of them is that when we formed SAARC, we agreed on a fundamental principle while defining the charter of SAARC. That means nothing moves forward until everyone agrees on a topic. Basically, it cannot be the same. The role of the chair of SAARC is nothing special. We are only one

BIMSTEC secretary-general to pay four-day visit to India next week

Tenzin Lekphell, the secretary general of the seven-nation grouping BIMSTEC, will pay a four-day visit to India beginning Monday to explore ways to take forward the bloc's cooperative agenda. India has been making concerted efforts to make BIMSTEC a vibrant forum for regional cooperation as initiatives under SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) were not moving forward for a variety of reasons. Announcing Lekphell's visit from August 22 to 25, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said he will hold discussions with senior Indian officials on how to take forward cooperation in sync with the mandate of its leaders. Besides India, the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) comprises Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Nepal and Bhutan. At the 5th BIMSTEC Summit held in Sri Lanka on March 30, the leaders of the member nations adopted a charter and a connectivity roadmap to make the grouping a vibrant platform f

We must rejuvenate SAARC, says former Bhutan PM Tsering Tobgay

Tobgay's lecture was moderated by former Indian foreign secretary Shyam Saran, and part of a monthly series organised by the Centre for Policy Research, to mark Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav

Sri Lankan president calls for unity govt to resolve economic crisis

The developments come after Gotabaya Rajapaksa declared a state of emergency on Friday, following protests over the economic hardship faced by the people of the country

Sri Lanka to return Indian inmates under SAARC prisoner exchange deal

Sri Lanka will hand over two Indian prisoners, who have been serving life imprisonment in the island nation, to India on Wednesday and Thursday under the SAARC prisoners exchange agreement

Pak ready to host SAARC Summit, India can join virtually: FM Qureshi

SAARC - a regional grouping comprising Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka - has not been very effective since 2016

Pak PM Khan hopes to host SAARC Summit after removal of artificial obstacle

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday expressed hope that his country would host the SAARC Summit after the removal of artificial obstacle in its way. Khan made the remarks during his meeting with Secretary-General of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Esala Ruwan Weerakoon, who paid a courtesy call on the Prime Minister here, according to Foreign Office. The Prime Minister expressed hope to host the SAARC Summit in Pakistan when artificial obstacle created in its way would be removed, said FO. The SAARC - a regional grouping comprising Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka - has not been very effective since 2016 as its biennial summits have not taken place since the last one in Kathmandu in 2014. The 2016 SAARC Summit was originally planned to be held in Islamabad on November 15-19, 2016. But after a terror attack on an Indian Army camp in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir on September 18 that year, India expressed

We are poised at the cusp of tremendous opportunity: Cisco's Chittilapilly

Cisco's president for India and Saarc sees big scope in the digitisation of multiple industry sectors that have been poor adopters of technology

SAARC meet canceled as Pak seeks Taliban representing Afghanistan: Report

India, some other members objected to the proposal for a meeting of the bloc's foreign ministers.

Saarc nations for technology use to fight climate crisis in fisheries

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation countries on Thursday pitched for adoption of technologies to reduce the impact of climate crisis on fisheries and acquaculture

Cisco appoints Daisy Chittilapilly as president of India, SAARC operations

Chittilapilly has over 25 years of experience in the technology industry, including 17 years of leadership experience at Cisco

SAARC virtual meet: India invites Pakistan to coronavirus workshop

It is a virtual workshop on management of Covid-19, response to the pandemic and exchange of best practices amid the pandemic

China shadow looms large as India looks to consolidate ties with neighbours

The immediate proximate event is going to be the election in Nepal, due in April

Saarc Covid fund: No Indian money for Pakistan; Nepal biggest beneficiary

India has contributed half the corpus of the fund but released less than 20% to member nations

It's time for policymakers to boost regional cooperation

Going forward, a cross-border regional protocol would help strengthen the preparedness for future pandemics or similar disasters

Defence, LCV and buses to be key growth levers at Ashok Leyland: Chairman

Dheeraj Hinduja says company's future product plans would revolve around auto buzzword CASE mobility. CASE is an acronym for Connected, Autonomous, Shared & Electric vehicles

RBI signs documents to extend $400 mn currency swap facility to Sri Lanka

The currency swap arrangement will remain available till November 2022, the Indian mission said in a press release

Asia needs India for post-Covid cooperation

India's pivotal position in South Asia, its strong economic ties with ASEAN+6 countries and its presence in the G20 make its participation critical

IMF needs to maintain global financial stability amid Covid-19: Sitharaman

Sitharaman, in her intervention, outlined various measures taken by India to deal with the health emergency

Social distancing with India: Pak stays away from Saarc meets on Covid-19

Earlier this week, Pakistan stayed away from the regional trade officials' video conference on Covid-19 because as per the neighboiring country, it should have been managed by Saarc secretariat