SAARC - Towards Greater Connectivity

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14th January 2008

International Conference on SAARC: Towards Greater Connectivity
15-16 January 2008, Conference Room II, IIC

Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies
11 December 2007

Dear Nishchal

My very warm greetings to you.

I am looking forward to your participation in the important seminar at Delhi on “SAARC - Towards Greater Connectivity in mid January 2008. I thought this may be an excellent opportunity to also meet and consider additional networking arrangements among research institutes in South Asia. In order to do this we are setting aside an additional day for a meeting with the Directors of Institutes from South Asia who will be here at the conference, on 17 January at the India International Centre. We are planning to set out an agenda for the meeting which is expected to last half a day till lunch from 0930 hrs on 17 January.
On your acceptance and confirmation, the stay and ticketing arrangements for those who will be coming from outside will be adjusted accordingly.
May I request you to kindly confirm your participation on the above meeting at the earliest.

Yours Sincerely,

Maj Gen Dipankar Banerjee (Retd.)
Director, Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies

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Tentative Programme
14 January 2008 (Monday)

 

Day 1     15 January 2008 (Tuesday)

1000 - 1040 hrs		  
Session I: Inaugural

Welcome - Joerg Wolff/Dipankar Banerjee
Chair – Amb Salman Haidar, former Foreign Secretary
Keynote Address – ‘Connectivity for Development and Progress in South Asia’ – External Affairs Minister, India
 
1040 - 1100 hrs   Tea
 
1100 - 1330 hrs   Opening Remarks: ‘SAARC in Perspective’ - Nihal Rodrigo, Former SG, SAARC

Session II: Connectivity through Developing Complimentary Infrastructure
Present State
Paper by Bangladesh
Paper by Pakistan
Paper by India
 
1330 - 1430 hrs   Lunch
 
1430 - 1700 hrs   Session III: Connectivity through Trade in Goods and Services
Present State
Paper by Pakistan
Paper by Nepal
Paper by Sri Lanka
 
Day 2   16 January 2008 (Wednesday)

 1000 – 1230 hrs		  
Session IV: Connectivity on Energy and Harmonisation of Resources
Present State
Paper by Bhutan
Paper by Afghanistan
Paper by India
 
1230 - 1330 hrs   Lunch
 
1330 - 1630 hrs   Session V: Connectivity through People and Ideas
Present State
Paper by Maldives
Paper by Sri Lanka
Paper by Bangladesh
 
1630 - 1730 hrs   Session VI: Valedictory
Foreign Secretary of India
 
1830 - 1930 hrs    Tea/Reception
Vice President of India
 
1930 - 2130 hrs   Farewell Dinner
Ministry of External Affairs