The Inter-Summit meeting is considered important as it sets the agenda and exact date for the summit. [break]"The failure to hold Inter-Summit meet in June could mean deferral of next SAARC Summit for long as a few SAARC member states are preparing to go for election from November," said a senior official at Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA).
Though Nepal had originally agreed to host the 18th SAARC Summit before May, 2013, the delay in holding Inter-Summit meet on time and political situation at home has pushed the summit further back. Earlier, the Maldives, which was supposed to hold Inter-Summit meeting in September, had proposed holding the meeting in February, 2013, citing political reasons.
But as Nepal expressed its inconvenience to hold the Inter-Summit meet citing political situation back home, the meeting was deferred yet again for the first week of June.
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