KATHMANDU, OCT 10 -
Japan, one of the major donors for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) since 1993, has decided to suspend its aid provided through SAARC-Japan Special Fund.
According to an agreement signed on Sept. 27, 1993 in Kathmandu, the Japanese Government had agreed to finance activities relating to SAARC region and a fund was established. Sources at the SAARC Secretariat said the fund has been receiving millions of US dollars during these 17 years.
In a bid to maintain austerity, the Japanese Government has decided to suspend the aid, according to a senior official at SAARC Secretariat. Now, just US $ 100,000 is remaining in the fund. “Japanese Government has informed that after spending the remaining amount in the trust, no aid will be released,” said the official. The Japanese decision was circulated to all eight member states. It comes at a set back to the regional organisation as huge chunk of aid is suspended, the official said.
After Japan informed the SAARC secretariat that it is going to suspend the aid, Secretary General of SAARC Sheel Kant Sharma had visited Tokyo requesting to continue the aid, to no avail. Japan, which had complained of slow pace of progress made by its funding, had been registering its dissatisfaction with the secretariat, sources said.
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