An important proposal on the agenda of foreign ministers of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) opening here on Tuesday will be for the meeting of their energy ministers and to examine the recommendations of a working group.
A joint statement issued at the end of the Standing Committee of the Foreign Ministers of the region said that Pakistan had offered to host the energy ministers' conference and also a Saarc energy centre.
Answering questions at a news conference later, Pakistani Foreign Minister Riaz Khokhar said that with one-fifth of the world population living in South Asian region, the energy needs of its people were on the increase and it was time to take necessary steps to meet the future demands.
The Saarc foreign ministers will take up the proposal when they meet here for two days from Tuesday.
Riaz Khokhar as well as his Indian counterpart Shashank avoided linking bilateral political questions with any of the proposals adopted by the Standing Committee on Monday saying that they were interested in pushing forward the Saarc agenda at the moment. "Whenever, we reach a stage that we have something to share with the people through media," Shashank added, "we will definitely take you into confidence."