KATHMANDU, Dec 8: Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has extended his warmest greetings and best wishes to the peoples and governments of the SAARC member states on the occasion of the thirty-seventh SAARC Charter Day today.
In a message of best wishes, the Prime Minister said, “As an embodiment of our common aspirations for peace, stability and prosperity, the SAARC Charter is a blueprint of regional cooperation and partnership in South Asia.” He went on to say that over three decades and a half down the road, the regional efforts aimed at promoting the welfare of our peoples have yielded some notable progress.
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However, the Charter objectives and aspirations are far from being fully realized. Our endeavors to promote regional harmony, end poverty and inequality, and build just and inclusive societies are yet to gather requisite strength, according to the Prime Minister.
As the Prime Minister said, with new COVID-l9 variants still marching across the world, the current pandemic continues to intensify the pre-existing challenges and pose new vulnerabilities in our region. This has made the need to re-embrace regional understanding and solidarity more critical now than ever before. He asserted that we must strive toward deeper regional integration with a focus on resilient recovery and building back better.
Home to over one-fifth of humanity, South Asia is a region of immense potentials, common values and socio-cultural affinities, according to the Prime Minister. “In order to unlock these potentials, we must muster political will and drive the regional process with a forward-looking perspective. We must revitalize the SAARC process including through an early convening of the 19th Summit.”
“As the current Chair and founding member of SAARC, Nepal is fully committed to the vision, principles and objectives of its Charter,” the Prime Minister said, adding that Nepal would continue to play a constructive role to enable the organization to deliver wider benefits for the peoples of the region.
On the occasion of Charter Day, he insisted on the solemn recommitment on the part of SAARC member nations to promote a stronger, more effective and result-oriented SAARC grounded in cooperation, trust, and understanding. “Let's give SAARC a new lease of life!”
