KATHMANDU, Sept 29: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said that the charter of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) should be revised as the SAARC countries have not been able to work in cooperation on issues of common interest.

His statement has come at a time when India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Afghanistan have declined to attend the 19th SAARC Summit in Pakistan citing security reasons of the host country.  

Speaking at a regional conference in the capital regarding effectiveness of SAARC organized by the parliament's labor and international committee on Thursday, Prime Minister Dahal criticized the SAARC for being unusually slow and ineffective and he said that the charter of SAARC should be improved to make the regional cooperation among the eight countries effective. 
 
"The process of the SAARC has become too slow and that it is high time that it be restructured," he added.

He said that SAARC countries have failed to work effectively even on issues of mutual interest even though it has been three decades since the regional grouping was formed. 

He stressed meaningful and effective cooperation among SAARC countries on issues of mutual interests. 

He said that issues like terrorism, climate change, food safety, poverty, unemployment and disaster management are issues of mutual interests of the SAARC countries and that effective cooperation among the countries can really help tackle the issues.  

In the meeting, Speaker Onsari Gharti, former Prime Minister Madav Kumar Nepal and other leaders were also present. They also stressed on effective cooperation among SAARC countries.  

 
• pushpa kamal dahal
 
• south asian association for regional cooperation
 
• saarc charter revision