Bhutan ready to hold Saarc Summit

13 April 2010, 18:00 PM

Diplomatic Correspondent

Bhutanese Ambassador in Dhaka Dasho Bap Kesang yesterday said his country has taken all-out preparations to hold the upcoming 16th Saarc Summit in Thimphu scheduled for April 28-29. Talking to Foreign Minister Dipu Moni at her office, the envoy briefed her about the preparations and said that climate change issue will be high on the agenda in the summit. This is for the first time Bhutan is going to host the Saarc Summit since the regional body was mooted in Dhaka in 1985. Dipu said Bangladesh attaches high importance to the regional cooperation in South Asia and considers Saarc as a catalyst for regional cooperation and sustainable development and social progress in the region. She hoped that under Bhutan's chair, new dynamism would be added and momentum be generated in the Saarc process. Dipu stressed the need for enhancing people-to-people contact and highlighted land connectivity between the two countries to promote intra-regional trade and travel. The minister expressed her satisfaction over the ongoing preparations in Thimphu.