South Asian summit in Sri Lankan capital
COLOMBO, July 27 The summit meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) got underway here on Sunday with the 2-day parley of senior foreign affairs officials of respective nations, officials from the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry said.
The 15th SAARC conference was inaugurated with the participation of the 8-member nations, hosts Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, the Maldives and Afghanistan.
Grace Asirwatham, a Sri Lankan senior foreign ministry official was elected chairman of the 33rd session of the ministerial council meeting.
The heads of state or government of SAARC nations are to have their sessions on Aug. 2 and Aug. 3.
With the theme of "Partnership of Our People", the summit would focus on the elimination of terrorism, poverty, energy crisis and climate change in the backdrop of regional cooperation.
The meeting got underway amidst tight security in the Sri Lankan capital where some 12,000 security personnel having been deployed to ensure the safety of the regional leaders.
A special traffic plan in the capital came into force Sunday morning with stringent checks done on vehicles and individuals.
