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SAARC meet to allow India-Pakistan interface
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- The SAARC meeting, which will most likely include a lunch attended by the Foreign Ministers of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives, is scheduled for September 27.
- Ms. Swaraj is slotted to address the UNGA on September 29, as will her Pakistani counterpart.
- The informal Council of Minister’s meeting was also held last year on the sidelines of the UNGA, and is expected to be chaired by Nepal Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali, and organised by Pakistani diplomat Amjad Sial, who is the SAARC Secretary-General.
Constructive overtures
- In the past month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has telephoned Prime Minister Imran Khan to congratulate him on his win and followed the call with a letter calling for “constructive and meaningful engagement with Pakistan.”
- In his speeches Mr. Khan has promised to meet every step India takes with “two steps” from Pakistan, and Islamabad sent a Ministerial team to Delhi to attend former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s funeral.
- Despite the “overtures”, there has been little movement in scheduling the SAARC summit due to be held in Pakistan, after it was called off in 2016 following the Uri attack.
- Nepal, which hosted the last SAARC summit in Kathmandu in November 2014, has been keen to pass on its chairmanship of the regional grouping, which it can only do once India and other members agree to attend the summit in Islamabad.
Source
The Hindu