Delhi to host 14th SAARC summit

Dhaka: The 14th SAARC Summit will be held in New Delhi on April 3-4, Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran announced on Wednesday.

Addressing a press conference in the Capital, he said the summit would be

preceded by meetings of SAARC Council of Ministers and Standing Committee.

Asked when the peace talks between India and Pakistan would resume, Saran said he had candid discussion with Pakistan Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammad Khan on August 31 and they agreed that the peace process is important for the people of both the countries.

"It's on-going dialogue. We will remain in touch," he added without giving any indication of date or time for the next round of the meeting with the Pakistan Foreign Secretary.

In reply to a question about the Mumbai blast, Saran said India provided Pakistan evidence of terror linkage in the past. India wants that Pakistan should take necessary actions against the Islamic militant groups to full its commitment to fight against terrorist outfits.

Describing the outcome of the SAARC Council of Ministers meeting as very successful and substantive, he said the Council decided to organise SAARC Car Rally in the run up to the 14th summit.

India had last hosted a SAARC Summit in 1996. Saran said the Council also endorsed India's proposal to set up SAARC Museum of Textiles and Handcrafts, Tele-medicine Network connecting the member states and South Asian University. Conceptual papers of these proposals were circulated among the members, details of which would be worked out at the next meeting of the SAARC Programming Committee.

Saran said the Council also endorsed the modalities of SAARC Development Fund (SDF) to be set with initial capital of $300 million.

India has already committed $100 million to be spent under social window of SDF for poverty alleviation schemes in other member states outside India. The member countries would also contribute to the SDF.

Besides, there is provision to collect funds from international financial institutions.

On Indo-Pak trade dispute under the SAFTA framework, he said the Council has referred the matter to SAFTA Ministerial Council (SMC) to settle the problem before the next summit.

Saran said the Council decided to provide SAARC Observer status to the US, South Korea and the EU who will be invited to attend the New Delhi summit.

At the 13th summit in Dhaka, China and Japan were given the Observer status and full membership to Afghanistan.