ISLAMABAD – After cancelling the last annual summit of the South AsianAssociation for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) in 2016, Prime Ministerlink Modi has now proposed resumingtalks between the SAARC nations – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India,Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka – amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Four years after abandoning the South Asian Association for RegionalCooperation (SAARC) summit in 2016, Indian Prime Ministerlink Narendra Modi on Friday gave acall to SAARC nations to come together amid the coronavirus outbreak.
“Our planet is battling the COVID 19 Novel Corona virus. At variouslevels, governments and people are trying their best to combat it. SouthAsia, which is home to a significant number of the global population,should leave no stone unturned to ensure our people are healthy”, PM Modisaid in a series of tweets.
The National Security Council of Pakistan will be conducting a meeting todecide whether they should resume talks with India via video-conference ornot. Sources in Pakistan’s Foreign Affairs Ministry are suggesting apositive outcome to Prime Ministerlink Modi’s proposal.
While Bangladesh, Bhutan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, and Maldives snubbed theSAARC summit along with India, in the following years they have beenreiterating the importance of resuming talks among the SAARC nations,including Pakistan.
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The SAARC, comprising Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives,Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, was founded in 1985.
India has recorded 75 confirmed cases of coronavirus and one death. 4,600people have died due to the virus and over 125,000 people have beeninfected worldwide. – Sputnik
