India called for comprehensive institutional & structural reforms in SAARC: Salman Khurshid

Who: India
What: called for institutional and structural reforms in SAARC
When: 20 February 2014
Why: to define relations between SAARC and observers

India on 20 February 2014 called on for comprehensive institutional and structural reforms in South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).

Salman Khurshid, the Union Foreign Minister at the 35th meet of the Foreign Ministers at Bandos Island Resort in Maldives emphasized that there is a need for clearly defining the relations between SAARC and the observer nations.

There are nine observer countries to the SAARC and includes
• Australia
• China
• The European Union
• Iran
• Japan
• South Korea
• Mauritius
• Myanmar
• US

On the sidelines of the SAARC meet Salman Khurshid also met Sartaj Aziz, the Foreign Minister of Pakistan.

As per the proposal of Nepal the 18th SAARC Summit will be held in Kathmandu in November 2014 if a final decision will be made on the proposal.

About South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)
SAARC is n economic and geopolitical cooperation and have eight member nations, which primarily are located primarily in South Asian Continent. It is headquartered in Kathmandu in Nepal. The idea of regional political and economical cooperation in South Asia was first coined in 1980 and the first summit was held in Dhaka on 8 December in 1985 that led to its official establishment.

Member nations of SAARC
• Bangladesh
• Bhutan
• India
• Maldives
• Nepal
• Pakistan
• Sri Lanka
• Afghanistan