Nepal to hold 18th SAARC Summit in Kathmandu

KATHMANDU: Nepal has decided to shift the venue of the 18th SAARC summit in November from its famous tourist destination of Pokhara to Kathmandu due to lack of infrastructure.

"We regret for the failure to hold the SAARC Summit in one of the best places of the country, Pokhara, due to lack of infrastructure including an international airport," said Mahendra Pandey, Minister for Foreign Affairs.

He, however, said that the government is making preparations for holding the next Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) meeting in Pokhara.

The meeting of BIMSTEC, the regional sub-grouping is held every two years.

Pandey while talking to a team of artists in Kathmandu, underlined the need for an anthem to connect the people of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations.

A delegation of artists proposed a song written by the Indian diplomat, Abhay Kumar, to be chosen as the formal SAARC anthem.

He has said that the song has to be presented formally in the upcoming SAARC summit before it is approved unanimously as the formal SAARC anthem.

The languages of all the eight SAARC nations, Nepal, India, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Afghanistan and Pakistan have been used in the proposed anthem.