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Saarc Summit to focus on connectivity

Diplomatic Correspondent
South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) is expected to approve "Connectivity for Shared Prosperity” as the theme of its 18th Summit scheduled to be held in Kathmandu from November 22-27.
The Saarc advisory committee formed by the government of Nepal has recommended adopting "Connectivity for Shared Prosperity" as the key theme of the summit, diplomatic sources said.
The advisory committee has been formed to recommend measures and agenda for the summit.
This idea comes barely a week after Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa mooted connectivity as the central agenda of Saarc. He proposed this idea in a meeting with Saarc Secretary General Arjun Bahadur Thapa in Colombo, Sri Lanka on August 10.
Sources in Dhaka and Kathmandu said a meeting of the advisory committee, headed by veteran diplomat and former foreign minister of Nepal Bhekh Bahadur Thapa, was held in Kathmandu on Thursday. There the central theme of the 18th Saarc Summit was finalised and recommended for approval of Nepal's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
"We have agreed upon the theme "Connectivity for Shared Prosperity” as most of the Saarc member countries, too, have suggested ideas almost similar to this," said an official of the foreign ministry of Nepal.
Quoting the foreign ministry official, Nepalese media said the advisory committee decided to recommend connectivity theme as it emphasises connection and
linkages from energy grids to rail, road, water and air links, inter-cultural as well as people-to-people contacts in the entire region.
It is up to the host country to decide the summit theme, which should reflect issues concerning all eight member states of the regional bloc.
The "Building Bridges" theme of the 17 th Saarc Summit held in Addu Atoll of the Maldives in 2011 also reflected connectivity as it had to do with both physical connectivity and political dialogue.
Heads of state and government from eight South Asian countries are expected to attend the meeting of Saarc, which is a group of eight countries of South Asia, created in 1985 to foster greater cooperation in the region along the Asean model.
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are the members of the Saarc, which also has nine observers namely Myanmar, South Korea, China, Japan, Australia, Iran, the United States, Mauritius and the European Union.