SAARC requires reforming: President Yameen

President Yameen Abdul Gayoom has said that SAARC requires reforming and that reform has, in fact, been on SAARC’s agenda for several years.

The President made this remark while speaking at the Inauguration of the Thirty-Fifth Session of the SAARC Council of Ministers at Bandos Island Resort today.

President Yameen said, “The Maldives believes that SAARC requires reforming. In fact, reform has constantly featured on SAARC’s agenda ever since President Gayoom’s call for reform during the Male’ Summit of 1997. Most recently, the Seventeenth Summit decided to initiate a comprehensive review of SAARC processes and institutions.”

The President said that the Maldives would continue to put emphasis on deepening cooperation in the identified areas of focus, making SAARC an instrument for building regional resilience, and increasing the Association’s international relevance.

President Yameen also called on Member States of SAARC to do everything possible to achieve the goals set by SAARC to promote development in South Asia.

“Is it not time that the Member States of SAARC give meaning to the lofty goals set out in the Charter? Is it not overdue for SAARC to return to its original idea of promoting the quality of life of the peoples of South Asia? Should we not focus towards building our national and collective self-reliance? Let us, the Member States, do whatever is possible, with whatever we have, to achieve these goals. Because, it certainly is the time for SAARC to help the peoples of our region in their march towards their manifest destiny.”