By A Staff Reporter

Kathmandu, Feb. 8: Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has emphasised the need for a consensus among the member nations of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) to hold its 19th summit at the earliest.
“The 19th SAARC Summit has remained a long overdue. We are eagerly looking forward to handover the chairmanship to Pakistan,” said Prime Minister Oli while addressing a programme organised by the SAARC Secretariat Office in Kathmandu Friday. Nepal currently chairs the regional organisation.
The 19th SAARC summit scheduled for November 2016 in Islamabad, Pakistan, was cancelled and has since been averted over the years. Nepal hosted the 18th SAARC Summit in November 2014.
PM Oli highlighted that the 18th Summit had called for a deeper integration for peace and prosperity in South Asia where the SAARC leaders agreed to reinvigorate regional cooperation and revitalise SAARC as an effective vehicle to meet the development aspirations of the people of South Asia.
PM Oli further added that Nepal strongly believed in regional cooperation to promote collective well-being of the people of South Asia. “The SAARC is an expression of our regional solidarity in South Asia. It has become a common identity for the people of this region. It represents hope of over 1.7 billion people of this region for accelerating economic growth, social progress and cultural development,” said PM Oli.
Speaking at the programme, Secretary General of SAARC Amjad Hussain B Sial, said that SAARC had progressed steadily, collaborating with the regional and international organisations and working to initiate substantive project-based collaboration with the observers of SAARC.
“Even though the Charter Bodies could not meet as required, SAARC has progressed steadily over the years. In 2019 alone, besides many other SAARC activities, five ministerial meetings were convened,” said General Secretary Sial.
At the programme, General Secretary Sial briefed on the updates and other activities of SAARC to the Prime Minister. His tenure as the General Secretary of SAARC will end on February 29.
PM Oli was accompanied by Minister for Foreign Affairs and Chair of the SAARC Council of Ministers Pradeep Kumar Gyawali; Foreign Secretary and the Chairman of the SAARC Standing Committee; Press Adviser to the Prime Minister; and Joint Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Chairman of the SAARC Programming Committee.