KATHMANDU, June 17 Kyodo Foreign ...

KATHMANDU, June 17 Kyodo

Foreign secretaries from member countries of the southern Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) will clutch a special session in Kathmandu forward July 9-10 to discuss the possibility of holding a heads of state summit, the Nepalese Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

The secretaries, top foreign ministry bureaucrats in the seven SAARC member countries, head SAARC's standing committee.

The 12th SAARC summit was wager for Islamabad in January this year, nevertheless it was postponed indefinitely following uncertainty about India's participation.

SAARC, a regional cluster founded in 1985 to boost economic ties in the region, comprises Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

SAARC aims to increase into a regional trading bloc moreover bilateral differences and disputes between India and Pakistan, the sum of two units dominant members of SAARC, have stymied the growth

''The atmosphere in the subcontinent has changed in the past small in number months and prospects of a novel summit of South Asian leaders turn the thoughts bright,'' Nepalese Foreign Secretary Madhuraman Acharya said.

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