SAARC Summit likely to be held every alternate November

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Standing Committee, comprising foreign secretaries of eight member nations, has decided to recommend that its SAARC Council of Ministers meet every alternate November.

The Council of Ministers is holding its 37th session in Pokhara on Thursday.

After the meeting, Nepal's Foreign Secretary, Shankar Das Bairagi, who had chaired the meeting, said the recommendation would be made in a bid to ensure that the SAARC Summit is held every two years.

He added that as the United Nations General Assembly opens on the third Tuesday of every September, the decision would help the South Asian regional body become more effective in pursuing its agenda of regional cooperation.

The SAARC has already completed 31 years since its establishment but has hosted only 18 summits so far.

The summit was to be held every year in the beginning. The 18th Summit was held in Kathmandu in November 2014.

Bairagi also said secretaries of the member nations are holding discussions to find an all-agreeable date for the summit.

He informed that the Standing Committee held discussions over 32 agendas adding all the foreign secretaries have agreed to rectify regional agreements made so far and begin its implementation.