Nepali Ambassador to India Deep Kumar Upadhyay has said that Nepal, as the current chair of Saarc, is keen to revive the regional body but the political atmosphere “is not conducive”.

Ambassador Upadhyay made such statement hinting at tension between India and Pakistan which has affected Saarc. “When we feel the atmosphere is conducive, immediately a Saarc summit will be organised,” The Indian Express reported Upadhyay as saying. 

The 18th Saarc Summit, which was scheduled for November 9-10 last year, was cancelled for indefinite period after India refused to participate in the event. 

New Delhi has been saying that the regional atmosphere is not appropriate for holding the summit. 

As a chair of Saarc, Nepal should have take initiations to hold the regional summit but there has not been any progress. India has even proposed a change of venue but Nepal has turned down the proposal.