India said it firmly believes that a peaceful and secure neighbourhood will yield "rich dividends" for SAARC nations.
Jaishankar was among the first ministers to arrive for the SAARC ministerial meeting. He was in the meeting for over 45 minutes and then left.
India on Thursday sought strengthening of SAARC monitoring desks on terrorism and drugs, underlining that illicit funds generated from narcotics and fake currency networks are being fed into supporting terror activities
Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Kathmandu on Tuesday to attend his first SAARC Summit, being hosted by the Government of Nepal.
The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation has "survived" but not "triumphed" as had been envisaged, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday said while lamenting the postponement of the eight-member grouping's Islamabad summit.
'India is using Hasina to warn the Yunus government because there is a ground support for the Awami League in Bangladesh.'
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the first time addressed the leaders of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation in Kathmandu in Nepal. Here are the top quotes from his speech:
Apart from India, Bangladesh and Bhutan have also pulled out of the SAARC Summit in Islamabad in November, saying the environment is not right for the successful holding of the meet.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday said the 'era of uninterrupted dialogue' with Pakistan is over even as he noted that India is 'not passive' and whether events take a positive or negative direction, either way New Delhi will react.
Extending its support to Saarc Bank, Sri Lanka on Thursday said the proposed financial institution will help in alleviating poverty in the South Asian region.
The development comes after four of the eight member states -- India, Afghanistan, Bhutan and Bangladesh -- decided to pull out.
It was good fortune for India to have Atal Bihari Vajpayee lead the government at a crucial moment in our history. He avoided India meeting the fate of Iraq or Ukraine, asserts military historian Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
"Sri Lanka regrets that the prevailing environment in the region is not conducive for holding the 19th SAARC Summit in Islamabad," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar arrived in Kabul on Wednesday to hold talks with the Afghan leadership
'We have communicated that SAPM (Special Assistant to Pakistani Prime Minister) on Health (Zafar Mirza) will be available to participate in the video conference of SAARC member countries on the issue,' Pakistan Foreign Office Spokesperson Aisha Farooqui said in a tweet on Friday.
Even a whiff of an incident like the violent 1989 shirt-ripping attack on Krishnamachari Srikkanth by a Karachi spectator would be ruinous. It would set back the ties further, derail an ongoing tournament, and harden Indian attitudes on playing Pakistan anywhere at all, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
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.
Asserting a war was not an option between India and Pakistan, Sri Lanka on Wednesday said cross-border terrorism was a core issue on the table for SAARC and the members of eight-nation grouping have to discuss it and its impact before moving forward.
Government sources in New Delhi said the neighbouring country's attempt to 'politicise' a humanitarian issue by its 'unwarranted' statement on Kashmir during the video-conference reflected 'very poorly' on it.
Pakistan's Chief Justice, Justice Iftakar held a meeting on Tuesday to review the preparations. Before the SAARC event, a three-day National Judicial Conference would be held in Islamabad from Friday.
It alleged that the decision by India to 'derail the summit' effectively 'contradicts' Prime Minister Narendra Modi's own call to fight against poverty in the region.
While 44 per cent of Pakistan had access to sanitation by 2004, Bangladesh made the leap from 23 per cent access in 1990 to 48 per cent in 2002. India, in contrast, has moved from a shameful 12 per cent to a mere 30 per cent in 2002.
Seven months after cancelling talks, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar arrived in Islamabad on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday gave a clarion call to all neighbouring and countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation to work "shoulder-to-shoulder" to remove poverty from the region, leaving behind the world of death and killings.
Bike maker Hero Electric has decided to foray into overseas market starting with exports of e-bikes to SAARC countries this year and also plans to set up a new greenfield assembly unit.
The SAARC has not lived up to its potential, the White House said.
'Victims of terrorism do not sit together with its perpetrators to discuss terrorism.'
Islamabad is awaiting India's response to its suggestion that the twice-postponed regional summit be held mid-April.
During the meeting, the external affairs minister highlighted the foreign policy aspects in the Common Minimum Programme of the United Progressive Alliance government.
Nepal said it would take necessary initiatives and hold discussions with member-states to press for holding the 19th SAARC Summit.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday held bilateral talks with all Heads of Government and State attending the 18th SAARC Summit in Kathmandu with Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif the only conspicuous exemption.
India is 'patiently' awaiting Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's response to the invitation for swearing in of Narendra Modi as 'short duration bilateral meetings' are being set up with all the other South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation leaders, who have decided to attend the ceremony on May 26.
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.
Modi is likely to hold separate bilateral meetings with the foreign leaders.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to seek the cooperation of India's neighbours to check extremist violence and to adopt an approach of zero tolerance towards terrorism at the two-day South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Summit which begins on Wednesday in Kathmandu.
She also said the Kartarpur corridor initiative was not linked to the dialogue process with Pakistan.
Pakistan's High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit on Wednesday hoped that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to his country during the next SAARC meet would go beyond SAARC issues.
In unusual comments at the SAARC forum, Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed on Wednesday 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.
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