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Wednesday, November 09, 2011 - 03.08 GMT |
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President leaves for SAARC Summit |
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President Mahinda Rajapaksa left for Maldives this morning to participate in the 17th South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit.
The two day SAARC summit is beginning on Thursday at Addu City in Maldives.
President Rajapaksa is addressing the Summit on November 10, the first day of the Summit.
President is also scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with his regional counterparts on the sidelines of the Summit.
The 17th Summit themed 'Building Bridges' is expected to review the progress in the implementation of the decisions taken in earlier Summits.
Five regional agreements concerning Charter of Democracy, Rapid Response to Natural Disasters, Seed Bank, Multilateral Recognition of Conformity Assessment and Implementation of Regional Standards will be signed during the Summit.
The Summit will be preceded by the meetings of Council of Foreign Ministers and the Standing Committee.
This is the third occasion that Maldives will host the SAARC summit, the previous two being held in 1990 and 1997.
The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was created in 1985 in Dhaka with seven members, including Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Afghanistan joined the regional cooperation in 2007.
SAARC provides a platform for the people of South Asia to work together in a spirit of friendship, trust and understanding. It aims to promote the welfare of the peoples of South Asia and to improve their quality of life through accelerated economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region.
Cooperation in SAARC is based on respect for five principles of sovereign equality, territorial integrity, political independence, non-interference in the internal affairs of Member States and mutual benefit.
Decisions are taken on the basis of unanimity and bilateral and contentious issues are excluded from the deliberations of SAARC.
Sri Lanka held the Chairmanship of the Summit from August 2008 to April 2010. During this period, 6 Ministerial meetings were held in Sri Lanka on various subjects. In addition several technical and official level meetings were also held in Colombo. The key achievements during this period include the operationalisation of the SAARC Food Bank; the Establishment of the SAARC Development Fund; progress in setting up of the South Asian University; signature of the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters and the establishment of the SAARC Cultural Centre in Colombo.
Nepal is expected to host the 18th SAARC Summit.
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