Voicing concern over Pakistan's non-implementation of South Asian Free Trade Area, the government said on Tuesday the effect of Islamabad's notification was limited to tariff concessions for India on items in the positive list.
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.
At the 14th summit, India will become the chairman of the regional grouping for a year, taking over from Bangladesh.
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.
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.
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.
After the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the eight-member South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation could soon have an anthem after an Indian diplomat in Kathmandu penned a song for the grouping to foster deeper regional consciousness.
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.
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.
The first of its kind in the country, the hub -- termed SACAC (South Asian Centre for Arts and Culture) -- will come up in what was once the home of Pakistan founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah.
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.
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.
Rejecting Pakistan's efforts to define terrorism in any particular way, New Delhi underlined that everyone knows what the scourge constitutes and that it was important to end it.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Greater physical, economic and people-to-people connectivity among SAARC nations can foster growth and development in the region, he added.
China and the United States have already been admitted as Observers by SAARC and Iran too has evinced interest to join.
"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.
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.
Foundation of SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) Writers and Literature have nominated Pakistani journalist and columnist of rediff.com Hamid Mir for the SAARC Lifetime Achievement Award 2010. Mir works for Geo TV in Islamabad.
The external affairs ministry was authorised on Thursday by the Union Cabinet to negotiate and finalise the text of the Convention for cooperation on criminal matters, so that it can be signed during the SAARC Summit in August, to be attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The Summit on April 28-29, to be attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, will also unveil rules and regulations for the ambitious SAARC University which is in the process of being set up in Delhi.
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.
India and Bangladesh have recently agreed to provide consular access to arrested insurgents and criminals on reciprocal basis, besides sharing information about their actvities.
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.
Editors of the regional grouping met to discuss issues relating to the region.
Modi is likely to hold separate bilateral meetings with the foreign leaders.
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.
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.
During the SAARC Summit in Colombo in 2008, the Navy had deployed three warships along with helicopters to provide security to the meeting.
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