SAARC is alive, Pak should not bring up other issues: Nepal envoy to India

A day after South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) video conferencing was held to chalk out a strategy to combat the coronavirus crisis, Nepal envoy to India, Nilambar Acharya, said on Monday that the SAARC is alive and expressed hope a summit will happen in future.

By Ashoke Raj A day after South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) video conferencing was held to chalk out a strategy to combat the coronavirus crisis, Nepal envoy to India, Nilambar Acharya, said on Monday that the SAARC is alive and expressed hope a summit will happen in future.

"We highly appreciate this decision. It is a great example of dealing with collective problems. We should combine our resources and exchange our best practices to fight it," Nilambar Acharya told ANI. That the SAARC video conference took place indicates "it is alive and there will be a summit".

On Sunday evening, SAARC leaders held a video conference after Prime Minister Modi on Friday through a tweet had called on the leaders to chalk out a strategy to deal with the crisis. Since 2014, no SAARC meeting has taken place. The 19th SAARC summit was to happen in Islamabad in 2016 but could not take place due to the terror attacks in Uri, Jammu and Kashmir.

The attack was backed by terrorists from Pakistan, following which New Delhi boycotted Islamabad. The envoy also reacted to Pakistan representative bringing up the Kashmir issue at the SAARC conference.

The ambassador said, "Instead, of talking on other issues, countries should focus on the main issue (coronavirus)," Pakistan was represented by Special Assistant to Pakistani Prime Minister on Health, Zafar Mirza, while all SAARC leaders were present in the press conference. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan was absent. (ANI)