They shared the dais but other than a formal handshake, there was no exchange of courtesies between prime ministers of India and Pakistan during the nearly three-hour South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Summit in Kathmandu on Wednesday.
The external affairs minister said the SAARC is in trouble as one of its members has been supporting terrorism.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will make a statement in Parliament on December 14 on the recent developments in India-Pakistan relations.
However, the details of the meeting were not officially confirmed.
In a face saver, SAARC countries signed a framework agreement on cooperation in power sector but failed to finalise the much-awaited motor vehicle and railway pacts
India and other Saarc countries have decided to work towards creation of a South Asian Economic Union and establishment of a regional food bank.
The reach of China in other South Asian states has been extraordinary. India's protectionist tendencies have allowed China to don the mantle of regional economic leader. The sooner Indian policy makers realise this and take steps to redress this the better, writes Harsh V Pant
The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation on Wednesday decided to associate Iran as an observer making it the sixth nation of the grouping to have that status.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Pakistan to attend the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation summit likely to be held in September 2016.
Leaders of Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Bhutan have also decided not to attend the summit, which now has to be cancelled as per the SAARC charter.
According to Dawn, Modi in his message reiterated India's desire to build good neighbourly relations with Pakistan.
Leaders from the seven South Asian nations might come up with more concrete steps in forming an Economic Union in the Dhaka SAARC summit set for January, according to officials.
Pakistan has played a spoiler in South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation's efforts to firm up agreements on developing intra-regional connectivity and establishing a common response to disasters.A Motor Vehicles Agreement, providing for connectivity between Kabul and Dhaka criss-crossing the region, and a pact on Rapid Response to Natural Disasters, were scheduled to be signed during the upcoming 16th SAARC Summit in Thimphu on April 28-29.
On the eve of the 15th summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation to be held in Colombo August 2-3, the US has said it does not believe SAARC is ineffectual and irrelevant and a farce as some in the West and in the region itself contend--who dismiss it as nothing but a group photo-op every few years--and is confident it can grow to be as powerful and influential as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
The prime ministers of India and Pakistan may have 'a brief encounter' in Washington on the sidelines of the April 12-13 Nuclear Security Summit, though proper talks between them are more likely during a South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation meet in Bhutan in April, a media report said on Saturday. The United States administration would prefer to arrange a proper meeting between the two prime ministers on the margins of the nuclear summit next week.
Leaders of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation countries vowed to collectively combat the scourge of terrorism, extremism and insurgency plaguing the region with Pakistan and Bangladesh rejecting claims of those who justified violence in the name of Islam.
India on Tuesday said the inclusion of Afghanistan in South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation would go a long way in establishing lasting peace and stability in the region.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that developing close relations with India's neighbours is a key priority of his government, ahead of his planned visit to Kathmandu on Tuesday afternoon to attend the 18th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, Summit.
In reality SAARC is largely a name board with annual rituals, not always regularly observed.
The 2016 SAARC Summit was to be held in Islamabad. But after the terrorist 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
'India has asked Pakistan to take certain steps and talks are not possible unless Pakistan convinces India on that,' Sibal said.
No reservation on China, Japan joining SAARC as observers: PM
India and Pakistan should move from confrontation to cooperation, Pakistan's High Commissioner Abdul Basit on Tuesday said while adding that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is keen to normalise bilateral relations.
'Victims of terrorism do not sit together with its perpetrators to discuss terrorism.'
'As long as India and Pakistan remain at loggerheads, SAARC\n\nis dead in the water. So why go through with this charade?' asks Ramananda Sengupta.
Modi attended the 20th ASEAN-India Summit in Jakarta. Secretary-General of ASEAN Dr Kao Kim Hourn also attended the summit.
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.
Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry 'condemned the unprovoked firing by' Indian forces on the Line of Control in which two Pakistani soldiers were killed, Pakistan Foreign Office said in a statement.
The development comes after four of the eight member states -- India, Afghanistan, Bhutan and Bangladesh -- decided to pull out.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a $1 million ad-hoc grant for the operational budget for the BIMSTEC secretariat and another $3 million assistance to revive the grouping's centre for weather and climate.
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.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will only travel to Kathmandu when he will leave on Tuesday to attend the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation summit in Nepal, despite his wish to visit other parts of the country including Janakpur, the revered Hindu religious site.
Just hours after the White House confirmed that United States President Barack Obama would be travelling to India in January, the State Department on Friday announced that it will send a top diplomat to India next week to lay the ground work for the historic presidential visit.
He also rubbished the claim of 'video evidence' of the strike.
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.
Modi said the coming together of SAARC leaders will lead to effective outcomes and benefit citizens in the fight against coronavirus. The PM on Friday had proposed formulation of a joint strategy by the SAARC nations to fight coronavirus, a suggestion that was backed by all the member states.
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