KATHMANDU: The Programming Committee (PC) meeting of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is underway at Hotel Soaltee Crowne Plaza in Kathmandu on Saturday.

Maldives will handover the SAARC Chair to Nepal in the joint secretary-level PC meeting that started at 9:30am and will continue till 5:00pm (local time).

Before the formal inauguration of the two-day Summit from November 26, a foreign secretary-level Standing Committee meeting will be held on November 23-24.

Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque will reach Kathmandu on Saturday to take part in the meeting. 

The 36th SAARC Council of Ministers meeting, the third preceding meeting, will be led by foreign ministers of all member states on November 25.

Delegates for the PC meeting from all SAARC countries — Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka — arrived in Kathmandu Friday.

The eight-member Bangladesh delegation, led by Director General (SAARC & BIMSTEC) Abdul Motaleb Sarker, also reached on Friday.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will participate in the Summit on November 26-27.

The 18th SAARC Summit will put emphasis on improving the multi-transport system.

Bangladesh Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali also talked about signing of two crucial deals including SAARC Motor Vehicle Agreements and SAARC Regional Railways Agreement.

The agreements will allow the free movement of cargo, passenger and personal vehicles across member states.

Taxes will be taken for motor vehicles while a unified ticket system would be adopted for trains that would ply across the region.

Besides, another agreement is expected to be signed about power.

The member countries will decide on traffic volume through mutual negotiations, apart from fees and charges to be levied at entry points. Routes for road connectivity are yet to be finalized.

The country through which the vehicles to move will set these charges, which will have to be paid in the local currency. The authorized officers of the country can inspect and search transiting vehicles, according to the draft of the agreement.

Currently, India and Bhutan have this kind of agreement.

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is an economic and geopolitical organisation of eight countries — Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

The idea of regional political and economical cooperation in South Asian countries was first raised in 1980 and the first summit was held in Dhaka on December 8, 1985, when the organisation was established by the governments of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.

Since then the organisation has been expanded by accepting one new full member, Afghanistan and several observer members.

Currently, the official meetings of the SAARC leaders are being held bi-annually though it was said to be held annually. The foreign ministers of the region meet twice in a year.

The 17th SAARC Summit was held at Addu of Maldives on November 10-11 of 2011.

BDST: 1238 HRS, NOV 22, 2014