FS leaves for Dhaka meeting

Published July 30, 2006

ISLAMABAD, July 29: Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammad Khan left on Saturday night for Bangladesh for a meeting of the Standing Committee of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation.

The meeting will be held in Dhaka on Monday.

Mr Khan’s visit acquires significance as he is likely to hold talks with his Indian counterpart Shyam Saran on the margins of the Saarc event. On top of the agenda will be dates for the postponed foreign secretary-level talks to review the third round of Indo-Pakistan composite dialogue and discuss the future roadmap.

All decisions taken at the 13th Saarc Summit held in Dhaka in November 2005 will be reviewed by the Standing Committee. Among key agenda items will be finalising modalities for granting observer status to China and Japan, and membership to Afghanistan, review of SAFTA, reform process, Saarc secretariat including the financial and administrative aspects, sources said.