Maldives prepares to host SAARC Summit

Athapattu BANDARA

The 17th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit under the theme "Building bridges" to enhance cooperation among South Asian countries will be held from November 10 and 11 in Addu Atoll, Maldives on a grand scale.

The first SAARC Summit was held in 1985 and this time the Maldives is all set to host the Summit in the Maldive islands. This is the third time the SAARC summit is held in the Maldives. Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and the Maldives will attend the summit.

The summit will ink several deals covering food security and a collective response to natural disasters and focus on trade, customs and good governance.

The Maldives comprises 1198 atolls and the city of Addu where the SAARC Head of State Summit is to be held is situated 438 kilometers away from the capital, Male.

Addu is only second to Male in population. Tourism and fisheries industries are the main sources of income of the Addu citizens. This is the first time, a SAARC summit is held away from Male.

Sri Lanka extended assistance to carpet the access road to the place where the summit is held. Sri Lankan Special Task Force (STF) members have been deployed for the security of the SAARC leaders. Sri Lanka will also assist the Maldivian authorities to provide transport facilities to the Heads of State participating in the 17th SAARC Summit.

This year eight countries, US, Japan, China, Australia, Iran, South Korea, Mauritius and Myanmar and the 25 member European Union will attend the summit as observers.