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KATMANDU: The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) needed to keep striving to achieve economic, cultural and social growth in the region, Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said during a visit to its secretariat in Katmandu on Tuesday.
“SAARC had immense potential for strengthening the economies of the member countries and to promote collaboration in various areas of mutual significance,” he said.
During his speech, Abbasi stressed the increased level of connectivity needed among SAARC member states for a prosperous region. “Pakistan attaches great importance to SAARC and remains committed to its principles and objectives of its charter,” he said.
Visiting Katmandu to plant a sapling of pine at the secretariat, Abbasi said that Pakistan had always strived to make SAARC a vibrant vehicle for regional cooperation based on the principle of sovereign equality.
In 2016, Pakistan was scheduled to host the 19th SAARC meeting in Islamabad. Due to strained ties with India, however, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government did not attend the conference, citing “increasing cross-border terrorist attacks in the region and growing interference in the internal affairs of member states.”
As host of the next SAARC summit, Abbasi said: “Pakistan looks forward to convening the summit at an early date” and said that it would “play a positive role in further strengthening regional cooperation.”
He said that Pakistan had at all meetings of SAARC advanced its belief that a secure and peaceful environment in South Asia was crucial for the advancement of the region’s development and prosperity.
Amjad Hussain B Sial, SAARC secretary general, said: “Pakistan is playing an important role in SAARC and had previously hosted two summits. Holding SAARC summits meant renewing impetus among member states and was therefore significant.”