Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua Friday expressed Pakistan's readiness to host the 19th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), which has been pending for the last two years due to India's reluctance to attend it.
Addressing a ceremony held to celebrate the 34th Saarc Charter Day in collaboration with the Saarc Arbitration Council and Saarc Energy Center, Janjua said that being a founding member, Pakistan stands steadfast by the principles of Saarc Charter and it continues to believe in the viability of the organisation.
She said that Saarc countries over the years have focused on poverty alleviation, but life of a large population remains far from satisfactory. "We have enormous responsibility to deliver on this front," she said. She said, "By adhering to the principles of sovereign equality and mutual respect amongst member countries, we can guide the organisation towards achieving our cherished goal of a prosperous and developed South Asian region." "It is in the same spirit that Pakistan had made preparations to host the 19th Saarc summit in Islamabad. We look forward to host the summit to take forward the agenda of Saarc," she said, adding: "We have ups and downs in the relations, but Saarc is there to remain."
The 19th session of the Saarc summit was scheduled to take place on November 9, 2016 in Islamabad. India, together with other likeminded countries such as Bangladesh and Afghanistan, however, withdrew from the summit following the September 18, 2016 Uri attack on the pretext of "increasing cross-border terrorist attacks in the region and [Pakistan's] growing interference in the internal affairs of Saarc member-states."
Highlighting the importance of the forum for the social economic development of the people of the member states, Janjua emphasised that all the member countries need to work together with cohesion to transform the lives of their peoples and alleviate poverty from the region. "This is the commitment expressed repeatedly by the Prime Minister of Pakistan," she added.
The foreign secretary said the South Asia being home to 1.7 billion talented, energetic and educated human resources and abundantly blessed with natural resources must not be left behind. "This [Saarc Charter] day reminds us to respond positively and effectively to the growing and multifaceted challenges faced by the region," she said and also welcomed the delegates and diplomats from the Saarc member states.
India was represented by Akhilesh Singh, second secretary at its High Commission, Bangladesh by its High Commissioner Tariq Ahsan, Maldives by its Ambassador Ahmad Saleem, Nepal by its Ambassador Sewa Lamsal, Sri Lanka by its High Commissioner Noor Deen Mohamed Shaheid and Afghanistan by its Chargé D'affaires Rahim Ullah Qatra from the Saarc member states.
While diplomats from the observer states, heads and representatives of Saarc Arbitration Council, Saarc Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Saarc Energy Centre were also present on the occasion.
Addressing the ceremony Director Saarc Energy Centre Naeem Malik highlighted the potential of energy cooperation, especially in the field of renewable energy, amongst the South Asian countries. He said regional cooperation can lead to economic prosperity of the peoples in the region. He underscored the need for regional cooperation for socio-economic development of future generations of the Saarc member states.
In his remarks, President of Saarc Chamber of Commerce and Industry Nandana Jayaruwan Edirisinghe stressed for removing trade barriers amongst the regional countries in order to fully exploit the economic potential of the region.
The speakers highlighted the importance of Saarc in fulfilling the collective goal of socio-economic progress as envisaged by the leaders of Saarc 34 years ago.
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