Nepali home minister leaves for Sri Lanka to attend SAARC meeting

Nepali Home Minister Janardan Sharma left for Sri Lanka on Tuesday to attend the 8th meeting of home ministers and interior ministers of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations.

The meeting will take place in Colombo on Thursday.

The high-powered Nepali delegation visiting Colombo comprises officials from Home and Foreign Ministries as well as representatives of the Immigration Department.

During the meeting, the SAARC home ministers and interior ministers will highlight the importance of collective actions in fighting terrorism, Dipak Kaphle, spokesman at the Ministry of Home Affairs, told media here.

"The meeting will discuss a range of regional issues such as cross-border terrorism, drugs and human smuggling," Kaphle said.

The ministers will emphasize the need to improve monitoring system, exchange of information and technology to fight these common social evils within the region, officials said.

Before the ministerial meeting, a meeting of the interior/home secretaries is scheduled to be held on Wednesday to strengthen counter-terrorism cooperation.

India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Bangladesh and Afghanistan are part of the SAARC conference, which is a regional platform to promote regional cooperation and cordial relations among these South Asian countries.

source: xinhua