14th SAARC Summit to focus on regional 'Connectivity'

New Delhi, Mar 21 (UNI) The 14th SAARC Summit of Heads of State/Government, being held here on April 3-4, will focus on the theme of 'Connectivity'--political, economic, and of ideas and people--seeking to promote mutual development and prosperity, it was announced here today.

Briefing reporters on the upcoming two-day Summit, senior officials of the External Affairs Ministry said Afghanistan would be formally admitted to the Grouping as its eighth member.

For the first time, representatives from the US, China, Japan, the European Union (EU) and the Republic of Korea would attend the Plenary and the closing ceremonies as 'Observers.' The Observer countries could also present papers at the Summit if they are represented at the Ministerial level, the officials said.

Ms Preeti Saran, Joint Secretary (SAARC Division) in the External Affairs Ministry said India would move the theme of 'Connectivity' at the Summit in ''very concrete terms''.

''It is time to move SAARC from confabulation to collaboration...it is now time for total implementation (of the proposals),'' she said.

It was time for focussing on infrastructure development for physical connectivity, freer trade and investment for economic connectivity and greater connectivity and freer movement of people for promoting people-to-people contacts.

She said that at the last Summit, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had mooted several proposals. These include SAARC car rally (which is now on), setting up of a Disaster Management Centre, a regional Tele-Medicine Network Project, setting up of a Regional Food Bank, SAARC Museum and centre for handicrafts and a SAARC university which would be a seat for higher learning.

The Tele-Medicine project would start with a pilot project while the SAARC museum would be temporarily set up at the Craft's Centre at Pragati Maidan and later shifted to a separate building.

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