Saarc summit: Conducive environment to be created soon

Nepal government has urged that a conducive environment be created soon to ensure participation of all member states in the 19th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) Summit.

"As the current chair of Saarc, the government of Nepal strongly urges that a conducive environment be created soon to ensure the participation of all member states in the 19th SAARC summit in line with the spirit of the Saarc charter," Nepal's ministry of foreign affairs said on Wednesday night in a press release.

The press release states that the government of Nepal has received communications from the Saarc Secretariat transmitting the diplomatic notes from four Saarc member states namely, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan and India in which they have conveyed their inability to participate in the 19th Saarc summit scheduled for November 9 and 10, 2016 in Islamabad stating that current regional environment is not conducive to the successful holding of the Summit.

"We have taken this development seriously," Nepal foreign ministry states.

The 19th summit was due in November 9-10 in the Pakistani capital, where government and state heads of the member nations were to attend.

On Tuesday, the four countries conveyed their inability to Nepal, the current chair of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, to attend the summit.

Under the rules, the summit has to be postponed if even one member nation pulls out.

A formal announcement in this regard is yet to be made.