SAARC amends charter, next summit to be held in Islamabad in 2016

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) has changed its programme and has decided to hold the summit once in two years rather than keeping the conference an annual event. The grouping has also decided to hold its next summit in Islamabad in 2016.

"The SAARC charter states that the summit must be held every year, therefore, holding it once in two years will require an amendment to the charter. The programming commission has also been made a charter body. The next SAARC Summit will be held in Islamabad in 2016," Nepal Ministry of Foreign Affairs Khagnath Adhikari told the media here.

Speaking on the agreements passed by SAARC, Adhikari confirmed that the member nations have concurred on energy cooperation.

"There is no difference between yesterday and today. The only change in the situation between yesterday and today is that the agreement on energy cooperation has been concluded," he said.

"The SAARC leaders have adopted the Kathmandu declaration. We hope to make it public as soon as possible," he added.

When asked whether the council held any talks regarding the security situation, Adhikari said that all member nations have made strong their resolve to fight terrorism.

"Bilateral and contentious issues are not discussed under the SAARC forum, therefore, bilateral talks were not discussed. However, security is a concern of all member states. They discussed terrorism and expressed their strong resolve to fight that threat," he said.

The 18th SAARC Summit concluded here earlier in the day with all participating leaders agreeing to a 36-point Kathmandu Declaration Letter.