BNP chairman Tarique Rahman called for maintaining law and order and sought cooperation in building a safe and humane Bangladesh after his party's victory in parliamentary elections.
According to sources, India would be invited to the new proposed forum, while countries like Sri Lanka, Maldives, and Afghanistan are expected to be part of the grouping.
Pakistan is holding a high-level security meeting to formulate a response to India's suspension of the Indus Water Treaty and downgrading of diplomatic ties. The meeting, convened by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, will include the National Security Committee, three services chiefs, and key ministers. The move comes after India blamed Pakistan for a terror attack in Pahalgam, which Pakistan has denied. Diplomatic observers warn that the escalation could further strain relations between the two countries.
Several Pakistani nationals visiting India started returning home through the Attari-Wagah land route in Amritsar on Thursday, a day after the Centre set a 48-hour deadline for them to leave the country. The decision came after India announced a raft of measures, including the expulsion of Pakistani military attaches, suspension of the Indus Water Treaty of 1960, and the immediate shutting down of the Attari land-transit post in view of the cross-border links to the horrific terror attack in Kashmir's Pahalgam that killed 26 civilians on Tuesday.
India has lodged a strong protest with Bangladesh over a now-deleted social media post by a key aide of Bangladesh's interim government that claimed certain areas of Indian territory should be part of that country. The post, which included a map showing parts of West Bengal, Tripura, and Assam as belonging to Bangladesh, was made by Mahfuz Alam, a de facto minister in the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government. The post sparked backlash and was subsequently deleted. India's External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal reminded all concerned to be "mindful" of their public comments and emphasized the need for responsibility in public articulation.
The external affairs minister said the SAARC is in trouble as one of its members has been supporting terrorism.
A multi-layer security arrangement involving five companies of paramilitary personnel, NSG commandoes and snipers have already been deployed around the Rashtrapati Bhawan. Drone cameras have also been put into service.
In addition to participating in the swearing-in ceremony, the leaders will attend a banquet hosted by President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan, it said.
Modi is likely to hold separate bilateral meetings with the foreign leaders.
Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda', Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay and Prime Minister of Mauritius Pravind Jugnauth are set to be invited to Modi's swearing-in ceremony.
India should encourage the second coming of SAARC with climate change as an urgent agenda and keeping Indian security concerns in mind as the subtext, suggest Lieutenant General Ashok Joshi (retd) and Colonel Anil Athale (retd).
There is a view that heavyweight portfolios like home, finance, defence and external affairs besides education and culture, two ministries with strong ideological hues, will be kept by the BJP, while its allies can get anywhere between five to eight cabinet berths.
'Victims of terrorism do not sit together with its perpetrators to discuss terrorism.'
He said the SAARC leadership can discuss via video conferencing ways to keep their citizens healthy.
Pakistan has said disputes, which are holding back regional cooperation must be resolved and the South Asian Association For Regional Cooperation should help create amity, understanding and cooperation on the basis of "enlightened self-interest of the peoples" of South Asia.
The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday said it has attached Indian assets of a Sri Lankan man and his son as part of a drugs-linked money laundering investigation against them.
Reviewing the progress achieved by South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, leaders of the grouping have advocated greater cooperation among the members.
India, along with some other members, objected to the proposal and due to lack of consensus or concurrence, the meet has been cancelled.
Nepal said it 'has received communications' from four member-states -- Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan and India -- in which they conveyed their inability to participate in the 19th SAARC summit.
Lauding Prime Minister Narendra Modi's steps to improve ties with the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation countries, top American officials, eminent South Asia experts and lawmakers have said that he has shown firm commitment towards strengthening India's relations with its neighbours, including Pakistan.
India on Monday successfully launched five foreign satellites from four countries on board PSLV-C23 rocket which placed them in orbit, an achievement described by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as an 'endorsement' of the country's space capabilities.
United India Insurance Company plans to enter the West Asia and South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation countries to tap the potential in these regions due to a presence of a large India diaspora.
Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and his Pakistani counterpart Rehman Malik have pledged to take more steps to improve bilateral relations. The two leaders, who are in Maldives to attend the South Asian Association For Regional Cooperation home/interior ministers' meeting, met on Tuesday evening and discussed a wide range of issues.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to announce a host of initiatives for the health sector on Independence Day with the highlights being the 'Heal in India' and 'Heal by India' projects and a roadmap to eliminate sickle cell disease by 2047, official sources said.
Amid concerns over its attempts to increase its influence in South Asia, China has described India as its "partner and not rival" and expressed willingness to work with New Delhi and other South Asian Association For Regional Cooperation members to improve regional connectivity.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday met Afghan President Hamid Karzai and is understood to have discussed with him the regional situation, particularly in the war-torn country.
During the SAARC Summit in Colombo in 2008, the Navy had deployed three warships along with helicopters to provide security to the meeting.
Afghanistan would have to harness the economic opportunities for its people and provide gainful employment to its youth.
"Building Bridges" was the theme of the recently concluded South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, or Saarc, summit in Addu (Maldives).
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived in Gan on Wednesday on a four-day visit to Maldives during which he will attend the South Asian Association For Regional Cooperation Summit and have a meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday left on a four-day visit to Maldives during which he will attend the SAARC Summit and have a meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani.
Official sources told PTI that Speaker of the Peoples' Majlis Abdullah Shahid has sent a formal invitation to the prime minister to address the Majlis during his official visit to Maldives for the two-day SAARC Summit on November 10-11, which has been accepted.
The meeting was attended by all the cabinet secretaries from the SAARC member states. It was noted that SAARC is transforming into an 'implementation body' and the need to strengthen administrative and delivery mechanisms was emphasized. The cabinet secretaries deliberated upon areas where significant innovations have been tried in various member states to benefit their citizens.
Home Ministers from South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation nations discussed ways to strengthen police cooperation and other means to combat terrorism that has afflicted the region. The SAARC Interior Ministers' conference, attended by Home Minister P Chidambaram, also discussed proposals like maritime security and anti-piracy operations under the SAARC charter.
Strengthening of police cooperation will be high on agenda of the upcoming South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Home Ministers' conference during which India is expected to press for visible collaboration by member countries in the fight against terrorism.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will make a statement in Parliament on December 14 on the recent developments in India-Pakistan relations.
The 2016 SAARC Summit was originally planned to be held in Islamabad on November 15-19, 2016. But after a terror attack on an Indian Army camp in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir on September 18 that year, India expressed its inability to participate in the summit due to "prevailing circumstances". The summit was called off after Bangladesh, Bhutan and Afghanistan also declined to participate in the Islamabad meet.
In a few minutes from now, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterparty Yousaf Raza Gilani will hold a one-on-one meeting in the neutral venue of Bhutan House in Thimphu. A lot of excitement is generated whenever the governments of India and Pakistan hold talks, a as a result of pre-summit exchanges of expectations, spins and charges.However, since the Parliament session is on in India and Pakistan is in the middle of far-reaching changes.
Monetary policy typically acts with a lag, and price stability therefore has to be viewed in a medium term perspective, Subbarao said in a speech at the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Finance Governors' symposium at Kumarakom in Kerala.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will reach Maldives on November 9 to attend the 17th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation summit to be held on November 10 and 11, in the scenic Addu island.
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