This is a very special year for SAARC. It represents the silver jubilee of the organization. SAARC has come a very long way indeed since its establishment in 1985 and I think all of us are in agreement that the organization has made visible strides over the past few years and achieved many milestones.

The Standing Committee headed by Foreign Secretaries of eight SAARC member states began its deliberations here in Thimpu today and our initial engagements has been very constructive and we are indeed hopeful that the Summit will come up with the robust programme of cooperation for the association over the next 12 months of Bhutan's stewardship.

In my opening remarks today, I expressed our deep appreciation for the very substantive contributions made by the Chair Bhutan in conceptualization of the main theme of our current Summit which is towards green and happy South Asia. Bhutan has indeed led the way among all of us South Asian countries in enshrining respect and sensitivity for the environment and preservation of our precious environmental space. Inspiration and initiative of Bhutan in this area and indeed in all the preparations undertaken to make the Summit possible were genuinely appreciated during our deliberations today and we felt that we could derive impetus from this to work towards the Summit outcome and a declaration that will be focused, incisive, visionary and future oriented so as to become a lasting outcome for our Summit.

Thimphu (Bhutan)
April 25, 2010