ISLAMABAD, July 25: Afghanistan, which has been given green light for South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation membership, will attend forthcoming meetings of Saarc standing committee and council of ministers in Dhaka next week.

“The government of Bangladesh as the current chair of Saarc has invited Afghanistan to attend the … meetings as special guest to familiarise themselves with the process,” diplomatic sources told Dawn. Afghanistan will not be participating in the deliberations but will attend the meetings as observer, they added.

The last Saarc summit in Dhaka had approved Afghanistan’s request for the membership of the regional grouping, and had directed the standing committee to evolve a mechanism to induct it as a new member as in the Saarc charter there is no provision for it.

The meeting of the standing committee, comprising foreign secretaries of the seven-member alliance, is scheduled for July 31. It will be followed by the council meeting on August 1 and 2.

They are routine half-yearly review meetings but this time around they assume special significance for two reasons. The modalities of Afghanistan membership will be finalised as will be the criteria for granting observer status to China and Japan, which also has been endorsed by the Dhaka summit.

Additionally, the requests by the United States and South Korea for the observer status in the association will also be considered. Although the final decision will be made by the following Saarc summit.