Pokhara, March 17 The 37th Session of SAARC Council of Ministers that concluded in Pokhara today agreed to Pakistan’s proposal of organising the 19th SAARC Summit in Islamabad on November 9 and 10, according to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Kamal Thapa, who chaired the session. Islamabad will also host the next Council of Ministers’ meeting on November 8. The meeting, attended by Foreign/External Affairs Ministers of all member-states, also agreed to hold SAARC Summit of Heads of State/Government every alternate November. “It’s an important decision because now Summit of SAARC will be held regularly,” DPM Thapa told The Himalayan Times. “It will come into effect once the upcoming summit endorses it.” The meeting also endorsed the name of Amjad Hussain B Sial of Pakistan as new Secretary General of SAARC. A career diplomat, Sial will succeed Arjun Bahadur Thapa of Nepal as new head of the SAARC Secretariat once latter’s three-year tenure ends in March 2017. Sial had served as a Director of Pakistan in the Secretariat from 2003 to 2006. Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministerial meeting recommended locating the SAARC Disaster Management Centre in New Delhi and the merger of the environmental component of the centre with the existing SAARC Energy Centre which is in Islamabad. Both India and Pakistan were keen to host the newly set up SDMC until the last minute and the Council found a compromise, according to officials. Nevertheless, the SAARC Motor Vehicle and Railway Service Agreements couldn’t make headway due to Pakistani side’s delay in clearing the domestic procedure to this effect.   India, Pak PMs likely to meet in US on March 31 Kathmandu, March 17 Indian Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj and Adviser to Prime Minister of Pakistan on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz today met in Pokhara and discussed a number of issues, including upcoming SAARC Summit and cross-border crime and terrorism. Aziz held a joint press conference with Swaraj after their meeting and extended an invitation on behalf of his Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the 19th SAARC Summit to be held in Pakistan on November 9-10. Aziz also said the two prime ministers were likely to meet on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington DC on March 31. Swaraj said they dwelt on a probe into a cross-border terror attack on the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot on January 2 that claimed the lives of seven Indian security personnel. Pakistan would send a probe team for the same and a joint team would begin investigation on March 28, she added. Foreign/external affairs ministers of eight SAARC member states have gathered in Pokhara to attend the 37th session of the SAARC Council of Ministers that concluded here today.