Kathmandu, March 31 (IANS) The Nepal government has decided to host the 18th SAARC summit Nov 14 this year, officials here said.
“Even though our government has fixed the date for holding the summit for this year, the chosen date is yet to be approved by the SAARC members,” Minister for Information and Communication Minendra Rijal told Xinhua Monday.
Nepal made the proposal for the summit in November during the meeting of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) council of foreign ministers held in the Maldives Feb 20.
Rijal, who is also a spokesperson of the Nepal government, said the proposal would soon be forwarded to the SAARC Secretariat for final endorsement.
Nepal has previously hosted the summit twice in 1987 and 2002 since the formation of the South Asian bloc in 1985.
The last SAARC summit was held in the Maldives in 2011.
SAARC chair rotates among its members on the alphabetical basis.