16th SAARC summit kicks off
Thursday, 29 April 2010
THIMPHU, April 28: Amid fragile peace, shaky economies and destabilising climatic conditions, leaders of the south Asian countries rallied for a more potent South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) body, to tackle pressing issues in the region -- home to about 1.5 billion people, report agencies.
The summit kicked off today in Thimphu's Grand Assembly Hall, where leaders from Afghanistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, mostly from agrarian economies, voiced their wants and views.
The Bhutanese capital witnessed the colourful opening of the 16th SAARC summit with dancers in their traditional attires greeting the heads of states and governments of the member countries playing Bhutanese bugles and flutes as they arrived at the Royal Bhutanese Parliament here in ceremonial motorcades.
Bhutanese Prime Minister Jigmi Thinley welcomed his counterparts from seven other member countries of South Asian Association for Regional cooperation (SAARC) at the summit venue while members of the Royal Bhutanese family and Buddhist monks joined the high-profile dignitaries from the nine observer states of the eight-member regional grouping and ministers and senior officials of the member countries.
At the very onset of the two-day summit, being hosted by the Himalayan kingdom for the first time coinciding with its silver jubilee celebrations, the Bhutanese premier made the inaugural address, which was followed by the handing over of the stewardship of the regional forum to him for the next two years from Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksha in line with the convention of the regional grouping.
Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, Maldivian President Nasheed Ahmad, Pakistani premier Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, Sri Lankan President Rajapaksha, and Afghan president Hamid Karzai and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina then delivered their summit statements respectively being invited by the new chair of the forum while issues of climate change, the key theme of the summit this year, largely dominated their speeches with calls for increased and coordinated efforts against the backdrop of growing exposure of the region to the phenomenon.
In his inaugural address, Bhutan's Prime Minister Jigmi Thinley said the 25-year-old body needs to be revitalised to handle woes in South Asia -- from poverty, trade, food security to agriculture.
"SAARC is losing focus. We require close to 200 meetings a year and they are not matched with results.
India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh echoed a similar view, that after two decades the sub-continent remains more divergent and socio-economic integration is still far way.
"Regional integration is half empty. Despite the telecommunication connectivity, intra trade and investments flow is far below, compared to the East and Southeast Asia," he noted.
SAARC, he added, had put in place creative institutions but they are not empowered enough to address the needs of South Asia.
In his speech Pakistan Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani has called for harmony and stability in South Asia to realize socio-economic development and ensure the well-being of the people in the region.
"For many years, real progress remained stalled due in part to hesitancy borne from historical legacies, differences and disputes.
Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai has said the most challenging threats facing the South Asia are terrorism, extremism, narcotics and organized crime and SAARC could be a platform to combat these threats together.
"The terrorist attacks over the past two years in Kabul, Islamabad, Mumbai and elsewhere were yet again gruesome reminders that terrorism continues to find a place in our region," he said in a statement at the opening session of the 16th SAARC summit at Grand Assembly Hall Wednesday afternoon.
Addressing the summit, Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed talked about strained relations between India and Pakistan, saying that he hoped that tomorrow's meeting between the two countries' Prime Ministers will lead to resolution of their differences.
The remarks came as a surprise as normally bilateral issues and relations are not raked up in the multilateral forum of SAARC.
The summit kicked off today in Thimphu's Grand Assembly Hall, where leaders from Afghanistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, mostly from agrarian economies, voiced their wants and views.
The Bhutanese capital witnessed the colourful opening of the 16th SAARC summit with dancers in their traditional attires greeting the heads of states and governments of the member countries playing Bhutanese bugles and flutes as they arrived at the Royal Bhutanese Parliament here in ceremonial motorcades.
Bhutanese Prime Minister Jigmi Thinley welcomed his counterparts from seven other member countries of South Asian Association for Regional cooperation (SAARC) at the summit venue while members of the Royal Bhutanese family and Buddhist monks joined the high-profile dignitaries from the nine observer states of the eight-member regional grouping and ministers and senior officials of the member countries.
At the very onset of the two-day summit, being hosted by the Himalayan kingdom for the first time coinciding with its silver jubilee celebrations, the Bhutanese premier made the inaugural address, which was followed by the handing over of the stewardship of the regional forum to him for the next two years from Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksha in line with the convention of the regional grouping.
Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, Maldivian President Nasheed Ahmad, Pakistani premier Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, Sri Lankan President Rajapaksha, and Afghan president Hamid Karzai and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina then delivered their summit statements respectively being invited by the new chair of the forum while issues of climate change, the key theme of the summit this year, largely dominated their speeches with calls for increased and coordinated efforts against the backdrop of growing exposure of the region to the phenomenon.
In his inaugural address, Bhutan's Prime Minister Jigmi Thinley said the 25-year-old body needs to be revitalised to handle woes in South Asia -- from poverty, trade, food security to agriculture.
"SAARC is losing focus. We require close to 200 meetings a year and they are not matched with results.
India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh echoed a similar view, that after two decades the sub-continent remains more divergent and socio-economic integration is still far way.
"Regional integration is half empty. Despite the telecommunication connectivity, intra trade and investments flow is far below, compared to the East and Southeast Asia," he noted.
SAARC, he added, had put in place creative institutions but they are not empowered enough to address the needs of South Asia.
In his speech Pakistan Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani has called for harmony and stability in South Asia to realize socio-economic development and ensure the well-being of the people in the region.
"For many years, real progress remained stalled due in part to hesitancy borne from historical legacies, differences and disputes.
Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai has said the most challenging threats facing the South Asia are terrorism, extremism, narcotics and organized crime and SAARC could be a platform to combat these threats together.
"The terrorist attacks over the past two years in Kabul, Islamabad, Mumbai and elsewhere were yet again gruesome reminders that terrorism continues to find a place in our region," he said in a statement at the opening session of the 16th SAARC summit at Grand Assembly Hall Wednesday afternoon.
Addressing the summit, Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed talked about strained relations between India and Pakistan, saying that he hoped that tomorrow's meeting between the two countries' Prime Ministers will lead to resolution of their differences.
The remarks came as a surprise as normally bilateral issues and relations are not raked up in the multilateral forum of SAARC.