President Rajapaksa leads Sri Lanka team at SAARC Summit 

[Friday, March 30, 2007 - 3.45 GMT] 

President Mahinda Rajapaksa will lead the Sri Lanka delegation at the 14th Summit of the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation - SAARC.

The Heads of State of the seven SAARC member countries will meet at the 14th Summit in New Delhi on 3rd & 4th April 2007.

A special feature of this Summit will be the admission of Afghanistan as the 8th member of the association. China, the European Union, Japan, South Korea and the United States will also be attending the summit as observers.

The Meeting of the SAARC Programming Committee, which will be attended by Senior Officials of the member states, will begin today (30th of March). Ms. Grace A. Ashirwatham, Director General of South Asia and SAARC of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will lead the Sri Lanka delegation at this session. This will be followed by the 33rd Session of the Standing Committee, which begins March 31,when Dr. Palitha Kohona, Secretary Foreign Affairs will lead the Sri Lanka delegation.

Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama will represent Sri Lanka at the 28th Session of the Council of Ministers commencing on April 2.

At these Sessions, issues relating to the implementation of the SAARC Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA), promoting intra regional trade, socio-economic
development, poverty alleviation and curbing terrorism will also be discussed.

Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are the current seven member states of the SAARC which was founded in 1985.
 

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Last Updated Date: March 30, 2007 - 3.45 GMT