DHAKA, Feb 1: Bangladeshi officials said on Tuesday they expected a summit of South Asian leaders to go ahead here this week despite the change in Nepal. "We're observing the situation closely but we believe the summit (of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation or SAARC) will be held on schedule," Foreign Secretary Shamsher Chowdhury said.

"We didn't have any request from an (to postpone). What we have learned about the Nepali situation we have learned from the media," he added. He said the move was necessary to restore law and order in the country racked by a Maoist revolt and imposed a state of emergency.

The two-day SAARC summit is due to start in Dhaka on Sunday. The meeting was originally planned for January 9-11 but was deferred after tsunamis devastated member states Sri Lanka and India.

India said Tuesday it was sending a team to Dhaka to assess security ahead of the summit after the Bangladeshi opposition staged a three-day nation wide general strike to protest against a grenade attack on a party rally that killed five people.

Asked about the visit and an Indian news report that Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh could cancel due to security concerns, Chowdhury added: "This is speculation. We don't want to comment." -AFP