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ISLAMABAD, Friday (AFP) - Representatives from the seven South Asian nations will meet here Saturday to decide a date for the twice-postponed regional games, officials said.

The Ninth South Asian Federation Games, scheduled to take place in Pakistan, were postponed first in October when the United States launched military strikes in neighbouring Afghanistan, and then in February because of tension between India and Pakistan.

Delegates from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka have arrived here to participate in the executive committee meeting of the federation, spokesman Major Yahya Ghaznavi said Friday.

"The meeting will decide the new dates," Ghaznavi said.

The Indian delegation is headed by Suresh Kalmadi, who is also president of the Indian Olympic Association.

India has severed almost all sporting links with Pakistan, accusing Islamabad of fomenting "terrorism" in the Indian-controlled part of the Himalayan state of Kashmir.

Both countries have amassed around 800,000 troops on the border following an attack on the Indian parliament in December, which New Delhi blamed on two Pakistan-based militant groups. 

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