ANI
09 Dec 2019, 04:03 GMT+10
New Delhi [India], Dec 8 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi has extended his greetings and felicitations to the people of member countries on the 35th SAARC Charter Day.
In a letter addressed to the SAARC Secretariat, the Prime Minister wrote: "India continues to support various initiatives to achieve closer cooperation in diverse areas.""Let us, on the occasion of the 35th SAARC Charter Day, dedicate ourselves to the task of fulfilling the aspirations of our people for a prosperous and peaceful South Asia," he said in the letter.
"SAARC has made progress, but more needs to be done. Our efforts for greater collaboration have repeatedly been challenged with threats and acts of terrorism. Such an environment impedes our shared objective of realising the full potential of SAARC," he further stressed.
However, without naming any country, Modi further added that it is critical that "all countries in the region take effective steps to defeat the scourge of terrorism and the forces that support it. This will generate greater trust and confidence to build a stronger SAARC".
The Prime Minister's letter holds significance as India has not participated in the SAARC summit citing Pakistan's inability to curb terrorism on its soil.
The 18th SAARC summit was the last annual meeting attended by India that took place in Kathmandu in 2014. Pakistan was to host the next summit in 2016, but, the summit was cancelled after India decided against participating in it following the terror attack at a military camp at Uri in Jammu and Kashmir that killed 19 people.
Other countries, including Bangladesh, Bhutan and Afghanistan also declined to participate and the meeting was called off following India's decision to exit the summit to step up diplomatic pressure on Pakistan.
(ANI)
Get a daily dose of Vietnam Tribune news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Vietnam Tribune.
More InformationAlthough anti-Muslim sentiments certainly existed long before 2001, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the response to them intensified anti-Muslim ...
New Delhi [India], January 21 (ANI): Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Minister of Defence of Republic of Indonesia General Prabowo ...
Colombo [Sri Lanka], January 21 (ANI): The Airport and Aviation Services Sri Lanka on Thursday informed that Bandaranaike International Airport ...
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], January 21 (ANI): Indian Navy on Thursday rescued a Malaysian citizen who had a medical emergency on ...
New Delhi [India], January 21 (ANI): As many as 15,223 more COVID-19 cases were reported in India, taking the country's ...
Colombo [Sri Lanka], January 21 (ANI): Ahead of Sri Lanka's tour of West Indies, Binura Fernando and Chamika Karunaratne have ...
NEW YORK CITY, New York - A New York City man who who stoked tensions before and after the storming ...
The end of Donald Trump's dysfunctional tenure in the White House means the start of a relatively normal presidency under ...
U.S. President Donald Trump left the White House for the final time on Wednesday, heading by helicopter to a nearby ...
Last week Israeli human rights group B'Tselem released a position paper describing for the first time in its 30-year history, ...
WASHINGTON, DC - With a promise to 'heal' America, which in recent months witnessed a chaotic election and messy transition ...
KABUL, Afghanistan - Major violence has spread, and escalated across Afghanistan.Scores of national security forces and Taliban militants have been ...