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A two-day SAARC summit agreed

Star Report
The SAARC will hold a two day lummU in Dhaka tn the period between January 9 and 14 next month according to the convenience of the seven heads of state and government. Foreign Secretary Re az
"There is an agreed period between January 9 and 11 . and it has also been agreed that the meeting will be a two day one... and of course tn Dhaka", Rahman told reporters
at the regular evening briefing after the Standing Committee ended Its three-day meeting yesterday.
The Foreign Secretary, who is also the official spokesman for the Seventh SAARC Summit, said that the decision on deferring the December 12-13 meeting was taken neither a1 the insistence of India nor B- ngladesh proposed for it, suggesting that an unanimous resolution emerged among all the countries to suit the convenience of Prime Minister Narastmha Rao of India.
Asked if India "Imposed" .the decision, a quick reply came from Rahman." No, it's factually wrong, nobody can Impose ■any decision.'
Replying to queries on how the agreement was reached, the Foreign Secretary said, "As host country, it was conveyed to us (by India that it’s Prime Minister will not be able to attend), and we conveyed It to Shri Lanka."
"Until such time our Prime Minister is formally elected
the chairman. Shri Lanka to the chairman." and that was why. Rahman explained, the formal announcement came from Colombo. "This is just a formal. . procedural matter", he added
On the question who proposed the postponement, he said that "one can propose any thing but that has to be unanimously agreed by all ... No. Bangladesh did not propose."
"There are many political complexities", he commented at one stage trying to explain the way the postponement came.
The Bangladesh Foreign Secretary admitted that the deferment of the summit has "diminished" the spirit of the event. "Yes. that's an obvious fact."
Asked If there was any possibility of an amendment to the SAARC Charter that bars from holding the summit without any of the heads of state or government, Rahman replied in the negative.
'The fact that they do come is a major commitment (to SAARC) ... If arty head of state is
substituted by somebody else, that may become a practice
He informed that "the Standing Committee has concluded Its work and prepared a draft report." The report, along with the one of the Programming Committee, will be placed before the Council of Ministers, composed of the Foreign Ministers.
The Council of Ministers begins Us two day meeting today as scheduled, and all the ministers are already in the city.
Rahman said that all the three reports, those of the Programming Committee, the Standing Committee and the Council of Ministers, would be ready for consideration for the summiteers when they meet in January.
Asked whether bilateral issues would sneak into the agenda of the bilateral meetings between ministers, an evasive reply came from Rahman, "There has been an open-ended agenda," insisting that he was speaking in his capacity as the SAARC spokesman.