The proposed South Asia Free Trade Agreement, which will come into effect according to the timetable set out at the SAARC summit in Islamabad, will greatly benefit the region, diplomats from the member countries said in Washington.
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).
The satellite will enable a full range of services to neighbours including the areas of telecommunication, television, direct-to-home, VSATs, tele-education and tele-medicine.
"We have always attempted to move ahead with the concept of sabka sath, sabka vikas," Modi said in his monthly radio programme Mann Ki Baat.
He said India wanted growth, development and peace in the region and was keen to utilise technology to pursue this goal for the shared prosperity.
Customs regimes can lead to labyrinthine legal disputes. Budget 2026 must recognise that an excessively defensive Customs posture can itself become a trade barrier, point out Mukesh Butani and Shankey Agrawal.
"Building Bridges" was the theme of the recently concluded South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, or Saarc, summit in Addu (Maldives).
The challenge before us is to translate institutions into activities, conventions into programmes, official statements into popular sentiments. Declarations at summits and official level meetings do not amount to regional cooperation or integration. Regional cooperation should enable freer movement of people, of goods, of services and of ideas. It should help us re-discover our shared heritage and build our common future.
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 fact that Gor has President Trump's ear makes him an extremely valuable commodity for India -- he represents both a challenge and an opportunity, points out Aditi Phadnis.
Sabka sath, sabka vikas, said Maldives President abdulla Yameen.
Recognising the "serious threat" posed by terrorism to the peace and stability of South Asia, the 15th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Summit on Sunday in a declaration supported "strongest possible cooperation" against the menace and signed a key agreement in this regard.
Britain's business ambassador and leading non-resident Indian Lord Swraj Paul has said South Asia should move towards a single currency to unleash the region's potential and accelerate economic growth.
'The biggest point of contention is market access for US agricultural and dairy products.'
The frosty nature of relations between India and Pakistan is among the main causes of South Asia's insecurity predicament, he informed the audience of academics at the seminar.
Terrorism is the biggest threat to South Asia's stability, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation summit on Saturday."Terrorists and extremists don't know borders. We must act with determination to fight terrorism. We cannot lose the battle against ideologies of hatred," said Dr Singh.Terrorism is expected to be one of the main topics of discussion during the three-day summit, which started today in Colombo.
Ever since the Quad started taking shape in 2007, China has been saying that the four-member grouping will be bound to fail. But much to the chagrin of Beijing, it picked up pace in the recent years emerging as a premier strategic group especially challenging China's assertiveness in the disputed South China Sea.
He said the SAARC leadership can discuss via video conferencing ways to keep their citizens healthy.
Modi attended the 20th ASEAN-India Summit in Jakarta. Secretary-General of ASEAN Dr Kao Kim Hourn also attended the summit.
SAARC countries are facing common challenges and they should cooperate with each other to address them, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Thursday, underlining that India is committed to reviving the grouping as a major forum to promote active regional collaboration.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made the announcement at the 16th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Summit that began in Thimphu with an apt theme -- Towards a Green and Happy South Asia.
Countries in South Asia on Tuesday agreed to work on further opening up markets for the members of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, as a measure to deal with the global downturn.
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.
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.
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.
Viewing terrorism as a 'serious threat' to South Asia's peace and development, members of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation on Thursday decided to have regular exchange of information to combat the menace and push efforts for establishing a convention for mutual legal assistance in criminal matters.
"We see signs of hope. Governments of the region are addressing bilateral political issues. We should break with the past and join hands to overcome the challenges," Dr Singh said.
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.
Leaders from the seven-nation Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation on Tuesday vowed to jointly combat the growing threat of terrorism, transnational crimes and drug trafficking and agreed to intensify efforts to enhance connectivity and cooperation in areas like trade, energy and environment.
India, along with some other members, objected to the proposal and due to lack of consensus or concurrence, the meet has been cancelled.
'The 2017 Doklam stand-off in Bhutan, the 2018 Maldives crisis, and the 2020 Nepal Kalapani border dispute shows how Beijing has shot off these countries' shoulders to target India.'
The Bush administration's point man for South Asia, Richard Boucher, has said that while Washington fully recognises the terrorist threat Sri Lanka continues to face from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, it should continue acting like a democracy and protect all of its citizens. The senior diplomat feels that there is a need for a political solution "alongside whatever is going on militarily and we hope the Tamil Tigers will see that as well."
The South Asian nations could script a new history of cooperation and prosperity that could serve as an example for other nations, notes Dr Rahul Mishra.
As ever, this is the major factor holding Saarc back and neither of the two countries seems to have an initiative.
He called for initiating tangible projects to realise the objective of progress and development of the entire region and proposed strengthening the role of the SAARC Secretariat.
"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.
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