According to Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry sources, the Foreign Ministers of Indian, Pakistan, Bhutan and Bangladesh had arrived by Wednesday.

In his arrival statement, Pakistan Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi said Pakistan and Sri Lanka have traditionally enjoyed close friendly relations “which are based on mutual respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity and non-interference in each other’s state”.

“Our cooperation at international fora is mutually beneficial,” he said.

He also said that the SAARC Council of Ministers would “review the progress on the implementation of the decisions taken by the 14th SAARC Summit held in New Delhi in April 2007, and give further direction to SAARC on various issues of common interest including food security, energy cooperation, environment and climate change etc”.