Maldives remains committed to SAARC, and I wish all SAARC member states, a peaceful, successful and prosperous future
'"On the occasion of the Thirty Sixth Anniversary of the founding of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), I am pleased to extend warm greetings and sincere good wishes to the Secretary General, the staff of the Secretariat, all SAARC entities and to the people of South Asia.
Today, as we celebrate the SAARC Charter Day amidst a global pandemic, the necessity to have an organization that promotes regional cooperation is ever more evident and crucial.
As the sole regional platform in South Asia, I am heartened to see that SAARC brought Governments together to form cooperative partnerships in the spirit of friendship, trust and solidarity in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. The timely convening of the SAARC Leaders meeting and the establishment of the COVID-19 emergency fund, as well as other targeted activities to address the pandemic are commendable. These unprecedented times clearly demonstrated that SAARC has the capability to unite and respond to emerging challenges with the latest technological advancements and by utilizing the opportunities presented by the SAARC forum.
We must therefore take the lessons learnt from the pandemic to heart, adopt good practices and experiences, and more importantly, be more innovative, efficient and coordinated in our approach to tackle other pressing issues in our region. Simultaneously, our efforts must be consolidated by sincere and strong political will, and collective motivation to make SAARC more effective as an organization. Our goal should be to build back SAARC region better - to achieve a greener, more inclusive and sustainable development for all our members.
Maldives remains committed to SAARC, and I wish all SAARC member states, a peaceful, successful and prosperous future."