♤ In 2014 PM Narendra Modi in his speech at the 18th SAARC Summit in Kathmandu observed that “nowhere in the world are collective efforts more urgent than in South Asia; and, nowhere else is it so modest.”

♤ He also observed that “Each of us (South Asian Countries) has taken our own initiatives. However, as SAARC we have failed to move with the speed that our people expect and want”.

♤ In the inaugural conference of the SAARC in 1985, poverty eradication and improving the living standards through mutual cooperation were the main themes. However, SAARC has clearly not been able to achieve tangible outcomes on these fronts.