EU close to applying for observer status in SAARC

Brussels, July 9 (UNI) The European Union (EU) will soon apply to the SAARC Secretariat for getting the observer status in the South Asian regional grouping.

"We are close to submitting our application for getting the observer status in SAARC," a senior EU official here said.

He said the EU supported the SAARC process and was also monitoring the developments with regard to the implementation of the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) Agreement in the region.

The official said there was immense scope for cooperation between SAARC and EU and steps would be initiated to deepen relations among member states of the two groupings once the EU was accorded the observer status.

SAARC brings together the South Asian countries of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives.

The grouping, in its 20 years of existence, has not made much progress because of the suspicion and bilateral disputes among member nations, especially India and Pakistan.

At its last summit in Dhaka in November 2005, SAARC had decided to make Afghanistan the eighth member of the grouping.

China and Japan have been accorded the observer status in the association and the United States and South Korea have also expressed their desire to be associated with it.

The next SAARC Summit is scheduled to be held in New Delhi in January 2007.

UNI AT VA RN1140