ISLAMABAD, FEB 24 (DNA) – India finally has given its green signal for Amjad Sial as news secretary general of SAARC. Amjad Sial is a seasoned Pakistani diplomat who was nominated as SAARC secretary general during the last meeting.

It was decided in that meeting that next secretary general shall be from Pakistan however India, even after agreeing to the proposal, later raised some reservations and did not gave final approval.

Now India finally has approved Amjad Sial’s name thus brining controversy to an end. Independent experts were of the view that once approved no member state then had any power to disapprove the nomination.

Ambassador of Maldives Ahmad Saleem, who is also a former secretary general of SAARC told DNA that it was Pakistan’s turn to nominate a Secretary General (SG) to head the SAARC Secretariat. SAARC’s Standing Committee (SC) at its 42nd session in Pokhra, Nepal, in March last year, considered the nomination of Pakistan’s Ambassador Amjad Sial, as the next SG of SAARC.

The ambassador said, SAARC is the best thing that has happened in this region. “I honestly believe that we should all be grateful that there is a regional organization called SAARC, in a region that is so volatile and unpredictable. But SAARC can work only if we are all sincere in making it a success”.

He further said,” we are one-fifth of the world’s population and so we have an obligation to work to make their life better than it is now.  I can understand that some members are having bilateral problems but they should be confined within their relationship, and should not affect SAARC’s functioning”, he added.=DNA

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