With the fate of the next Saarc summit hanging in balance, Nepal Prime Minister Prachanda on Thursday said the process of the regional grouping over the years has been “too slow” and the implementation of past deals were “very poor” as compared to other international organisations. Prachanda, in his inaugural address to the regional gathering, said that “the overall process of the Saarc over the last 30 years of its establishment has become too slow and the implementation of past agreements and commitments are very poor”. “The Saarc summit should neither be postponed, nor be cancelled,” as there is a need for all “Saarc member countries to come to a common platform and address the regional issues,” she pointed out. Nepal has asked member countries to create conducive environment for convening the Saarc summit. The participants at the conference are discussing various papers presented by experts on effectiveness of Saarc, overview of the three decades of Saarc process, strengthening institutional mechanism, deepening integration through enhanced connectivity and economic cooperation among the member states.

Source: Hindustan Times September 29, 2016 14:26 UTC