PM Nepal meets SAARC Gen Secy

KATHMANDU: Secretary General of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Dr Sheel Kant Sharma today met Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal to discuss the ongoing activities of SAARC.

Nepal urged Sharma for the speedy implementation of the declaration made by 15th SAARC summit in Colombo last year. Most of the resolutions made then are yet to be implemented.

“I informed the prime minister about current activities and future programmes of SAARC,” said Sharma. They are learnt to have discussed ways of making SAARC Development Fund broader and effective. The 15th Summit has agreed on making the fund operational at the earliest. Other proposed activities under the SDF are women empowerment, ensuring maternal and child health and teacher training. Necessity of fast-tracking projects for improving intra-regional connectivity and facilitating economic, social and people-to-people contact was also discussed.

According to Toya Narayan Gyawali, under-secretary at the PM’s office, the duo also dwelt on the 16th SAARC Summit to be held in Bhutan in April.