The 18th summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) ended with the adoption of 36-point Kathmandu Declaration.
Chair of the 18th Saarc Summit and Nepalese Prime Minister Sushil Koirala announced the closing of the Summit at the City Hall in Kathmandu on Thursday evening, reported BSS.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina attended the closing session with other heads of state or government of the member countries.
Koirala also declared that the 19th SAARC summit would be held in Islamabad in 2016.
The 18th Saarc Summit inked the landmark Saarc Framework Agreement on Energy Cooperation (Electricity) aimed at trading in electricity from one country to another and establishment of trans-boundary power grids.
The foreign ministers of the eight countries signed the deal at the closing session of the Summit.
The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) Summit kicked off in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu yesterday morning, with the theme “Deeper Integration for Peace and Prosperity.”
Nepalese Prime Minister Sushil Koirala inaugurated the two-day regional jamboree at the City Hall, when the Maldives handed over chairmanship to Nepal. This is the third time that Nepal is hosting the Summit after 2002 and 1987.
The leaders of the eight member countries spoke in the inaugural session. Nine observers from China, USA, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Mauritius, Myanmar, Iran and the European Union are also attending the Summit.
The Saarc is an economic and geopolitical organization of eight countries that are primarily located in South Asia.
The idea of regional political and economical cooperation in South Asia was first raised in 1980 and the first summit was held in Dhaka on December 8 in 1985, when the organisation was established by the governments of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
Since then the organisation has been expanded by accepting one new full member, Afghanistan, and several observer members.