Food crisis talks at 15th SAARC Summit

Kathmandu, Aug 9: Secretary General of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Dr Sheel Kant Sharma has said the recently concluded 15th Summit in Colombo has been fruitful in making all its activities action-oriented, media reports said here on Saturday, Aug 9.

The 15th SAARC Summit has come out with clear recommendations that focus on effective implementation of its already set programmes, rather than coming up with any new declaration, Kantipur quoted Dr Sharma as saying. He said the decision to establish SAARC Development Fund and to make it operational by identifying projects on women empowerment and maternal and child health care was a good start for moving forward.

The Colombo Summit has clearly affirmed that the SAARC Food Bank would be set up to cope with the alarming food crisis in the region, said the Secretary General of the eight-nation regional grouping of the South Asia.

He said the firm commitment to implement SAFTA in letter and in spirit, decision to direct SAARC mechanisms to improve intra-regional connectivity, regional approach to overcome energy crisis, environment protection and collective efforts to combat terrorism were other significant decisions of the Colombo Summit.

Nepalese Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala had led his country's delegation to the Colombo summit held last week. The SAARC, which now comprises Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, was established in 1985 for economic development of the region through regional cooperation.

UNI