ISLAMABAD, July 13: Foreign secretaries of the seven-nation South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) will meet in Islamabad next month to review progress of various Saarc-related activities since the 12th Summit. “As the current chair of Saarc, Pakistan will be hosting the 31st session of the Standing Committee of Saarc foreign secretaries in Islamabad on 17-18 August, 2005,” it was announced by the foreign ministry.

“All seven Saarc member states have confirmed participation in the meeting,” a foreign ministry statement said.

Saarc consists of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

The Standing Committee is entrusted with the task of overall monitoring and coordination of programmes, approving of projects and programmes, modalities of financing, determining inter-sectoral priorities, mobilizing regional and external resources, and identifying new areas of cooperation, notes the Saarc secretariat.

The Standing Committee’s session will be presided over by foreign secretary Riaz Mohammad Khan.

The session will be preceded by a one-day meeting of the 26th session of the programming committee of senior officials on August 16.

The upcoming meeting acquires special significance as it will also provide an opportunity for the foreign secretaries of Pakistan and India to discuss bilateral relations and review the on-going dialogue process, officials here said.

The Saarc Standing Committee meeting takes place ahead of the twice-postponed 13th Saarc Summit Conference that is now scheduled to be held in Dhaka in November. It is believed that the agenda of the upcoming summit will also be discussed in the meeting, sources said.

Pakistan, while reiterating its commitment to the Saarc process, has repeatedly underlined the need for strengthening the process and adhering to the Saarc schedule of meetings.—QA