ISLAMABAD, Feb 2: A conference of South Asian journalists which was to be held on February 4-5 in Bangladesh has been put off, a press release issued by the South Asian Free Media Association (Safma) said here Wednesday.

The announcement by host chapter of the regional media body came after the postponement of the South Asian nations summit scheduled to be held on February 6-7.

Titled 'Journalists Beyond Frontiers', the second Saarc journalists summit was scheduled to coincide with the summit of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, and "since the Saarc event has been put off, we, too, had to postpone our conference," Safma Secretary General Imtiaz Alam said in Dhaka.

The first Saarc journalists conference was held in January last year in Rawalpindi. Pakistan, which currently chairs the Saarc regional grouping, made the announcement of the Saarc summit suspension after Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh cancelled his participation because of the political turmoil in neighbouring Nepal.

India said it was also concerned about the security situation in Bangladesh. The Saarc charter requires all heads of member nations to attend its annual conference. "Fresh dates will be worked out after the new Saarc summit dates are announced," Mr Alam said.