Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will lead a delegation to participate in the 18th SAARC Summit scheduled to be held in Kathmandu this week.
The invitation to attend the summit, to be held on November 26-27, was extended by Nepal's Foreign Minister Mahendra Bahadur Pandey who visited Pakistan on October 23 as Special Envoy of the Prime Minister of Nepal. Sharif will meet other leaders of SAARC countries on the sidelines to discuss issues of bilateral and regional interest, Foreign Office said today.
However, it did not say whether Sharif will meet his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi during the summit.
The theme of this year's summit is "Deeper Integration for Peace and Prosperity".Pakistan attaches high importance to SAARC and is committed to its process, Foreign Office said.
Pakistan firmly believes that given the resources, SAARC region has the potential to become the engine for global economic growth for the 21st century, it said.
Pakistan Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry is presently in Kathmandu to represent the country in the SAARC Standing Committee Meeting, which will be followed by the SAARC Council of Ministers Meeting on November 25 and attended by Adviser to the Prime Minister on National Security & Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz.
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