SAARC Foreign Ministers meet in New York

An informal meeting of the SAARC Council of Ministers was held on the sidelines of the 67^th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, yesterday. The meeting was chaired by H.E. Dr Abdul Samad Abdullah, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Maldives, and attended by all SAARC member countries. The meeting was also attended by H.E. Mr Ahmed Saleem, Secretary General of SAARC.

During the meeting, Member States provided updates of the status of implementation of the decisions taken at the SAARC Summit in Addu City, held in November 2011, and the SAARC ministerial meetings that followed.  Member States further reaffirmed their commitment to work together closely to promote greater regional cooperation on a wide range of issues. Maldives as the Chair briefed the Member States on the preparations underway in holding the 35^th (Inter Summit) Session of Council of Ministers in the Maldives in early 2013.

Member States also discussed the importance of having different avenues for the exchange of ideas towards the development of the region, and expressed their support to the Chair, in hosting the 2^nd South Asia Forum in the Maldives in 2013.

Before the meeting began, the Ministers observed a minute of silence in memory of the Member of Parliament of the Maldives Dr Afrasheem Ali, who was assassinated on 1st October 2012.

Maldives, as current Chair of SAARC also released a message by Foreign Minister, on behalf of SAARC, on the observance of international day of non-violence on 2 October. The message called upon the countries in the region to strive to resolve issues of violence by tackling the problem at its root causes and through dialogue.