SAARC officialsmeet todayin Male

As Male is fully prepared to host the 17th SAARC summit in its southern island city of Addu, the Programming Committee comprising senior officials of the member states meet today (Sunday) to set the agenda of the summit, reports UNB. The Programming Committee meeting will be followed by the meetings of the Standing Committee comprising the Foreign Secretaries on November 7-8. The Foreign Ministers of the SAARC countries will meet on November 9. According to HaveeruOnline the delegations from the member states have started arriving in Addu for joining the summit. Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed, government officials and several foreign dignitaries are now in Addu. The summit of the South Asian leaders will be held on November 10-11 at Hithadhoo Convention Centre. Addu City Council Mayor Abdulla 'Soabe' Sodiq said accommodation and lodging have been arranged for the 5,000 plus visitors expected to arrive in Addu for the summit. "We didn't think that we'd be able to get sufficient number of rooms to accommodate the visitors. But when we searched for accommodation, people even vacated entire houses," HaveeruOnline quoted the mayor as saying. The visitors are to be accommodated at the Shangri-La Villingili Resort, Herathera Island Resort, Equator Village, and some houses in Addu. The heads of states will be staying in Shangri-La Villingili Resort. Meanwhile, the Male government has put the armed forces, police and other relevant authorities on alert for the summit to ensure the security and safety of the heads of governments visiting the Maldives. Maldives National Defence Force has revealed that more than 30 navy ships, two helicopters and one Dornier aircraft are deployed for the security of the SAARC Summit.