SAARC meeting ends without fireworks

MALE, May 10: The crucial meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation SAARC foreign ministers which began this morning to work out a concrete agenda for the summit meeting begining on May 12 concluded here without any hitch much ahead of time.

The two-day meeting ended one day ahead of schedule to allow informal consultations between the ministers. Moreover, the ministers would also be busy receiving their heads of state who were arriving tomorrow.

India was represented by Minister of State for Commerce B B Ramaiah, who formally presented India8217;s proposal to speed up trade and economic cooperation between member nations on the lines of the European Economic Union. The issue of sub-regional co-operation between India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh which threatened to cast a shadow on the summit due to objections raised by Pakistan and Sri Lanka was finally put to an end with both Pakistan and Sri Lanka expressing satisfaction over discussions.